Does FBR Digital Invoicing Apply to Services? Goods vs Services Explained (2026)
FBR Digital Invoicing centres on the sales tax on goods, while sales tax on services is collected by the provinces. Here is how the goods-vs-services split works, where services are already in scope, and what it means for your business.
The goods vs services split in Pakistan
Sales tax in Pakistan is divided: FBR administers sales tax on goods (and federal excise), while sales tax on services is administered by the provincial revenue authorities — SRB in Sindh, PRA in Punjab, KPRA in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, BRA in Balochistan — and by FBR for the Islamabad Capital Territory. FBR's Digital Invoicing system is built around the sales tax invoice for goods.
So the first question for any business is what it is actually supplying — goods, services, or both — because that decides which authority's rules and invoicing system apply.
Where services already fall under FBR digital invoicing
Services rendered in the Islamabad Capital Territory are within FBR's remit, and the DI specification includes service-oriented sale types — for example Services, Services (FED in ST Mode) and Telecommunication services — so FBR digital invoicing does cover services in those cases. FBR's 2026 online-integration rules also extend real-time integration toward service and retail sectors.
For services taxed by a province, you follow that province's e-invoicing or filing requirements, which are separate from FBR's DI API even though the direction of travel — real-time, QR-verified invoices — is the same across the country.
If you supply both goods and services
Many businesses do both — for example a manufacturer that also provides installation, or a retailer that charges a service fee. In that case the goods side runs through FBR Digital Invoicing while the service side may sit with a provincial authority, and you need to invoice each correctly rather than assuming one system covers everything.
Getting this right matters for input tax too: only a properly issued, verifiable invoice lets your buyer claim the tax, whether the tax is federal or provincial.
How to stay compliant across the split
The practical approach is to identify each line as a good or a service, apply the correct sale type and rate, and issue the goods invoices through FBR Digital Invoicing so each returns an IRN and QR code. Digi Invoice validates every goods invoice against the FBR DI v1.12 rules — including the service-related sale types FBR itself covers — before posting.
Because provincial rules and FBR's scope both change, always confirm the current requirements for your exact activity and jurisdiction on the relevant authority's portal.