How much is the fine for not issuing an FBR digital invoice?

The reported per-invoice penalty is Rs 50,000 or 2% of the tax involved, whichever is higher, under Section 33 of the Sales Tax Act 1990, with a further penalty of around Rs 25,000 per day for late or rejected invoices. The wider penalty range under the Act is reported to run from about Rs 500,000 up to Rs 3,000,000 per instance. Confirm the current figures on the FBR portal.

When did FBR start enforcing digital invoicing penalties?

Penalty enforcement is reported to have begun in January 2026. From that point, sales-tax-registered persons who are notified and still issue invoices outside the Digital Invoicing system are exposed to fines, and repeated default can lead to suspension of operations and blacklisting / removal from the Active Taxpayer List.

Is there a cost beyond the fine?

Yes. A non-digital invoice cannot be used by a registered buyer to claim input tax, so it costs your customer the tax amount and can lose you the relationship. Repeated non-compliance can also remove you from the Active Taxpayer List, which raises your withholding tax rates across the board.

FBR Digital Invoicing · Guide

FBR Digital Invoicing Penalty: How Much Is the Fine for Not Issuing an E-Invoice?

What a Pakistani business actually pays for not issuing an FBR digital invoice — the per-invoice fine under Section 33 of the Sales Tax Act 1990, daily penalties, ATL blacklisting and business suspension. Here are the reported figures and how to avoid them.

The per-invoice penalty

The most-quoted figure for failing to issue a sales tax invoice through the Digital Invoicing system is a fine of Rs 50,000 or 2% of the tax involved, whichever is higher, under Section 33 of the Sales Tax Act 1990. On top of that, invoices filed late or rejected by the system are reported to attract a further penalty of around Rs 25,000 per day until corrected.

These per-invoice amounts sit alongside the wider penalty range under the Act — reported to start at about Rs 500,000 per instance and rise to Rs 3,000,000 for repeated or serious breaches. The exact figure FBR applies depends on the nature of the default, so treat these as reported ranges and confirm the current schedule on the FBR portal.

It is more than a fine

Enforcement of these penalties began in January 2026, so businesses still on paper or hybrid billing are directly exposed. Beyond the cash fine, repeated non-compliance can lead to suspension of business operations and placement on FBR's blacklist / removal from the Active Taxpayer List (ATL).

Losing active-filer status is expensive in its own right: it raises withholding tax rates on many transactions and signals non-compliance to banks, buyers and suppliers — often costing far more over a year than the original penalty.

The hidden cost: your buyer loses input tax

There is a second, quieter penalty that hits your customer. Only invoices carrying a valid Invoice Reference Number (IRN) issued through Digital Invoicing are eligible for input tax adjustment. If you hand a registered buyer an invoice that was not posted through the system, that buyer cannot claim the input tax on it — effectively costing them the tax amount.

That is why larger, compliant buyers increasingly refuse non-digital invoices altogether. The commercial cost of losing those customers can dwarf the statutory fine.

How to avoid every one of these penalties

The safe path is simple: issue every sales tax invoice through the Digital Invoicing system so each one is validated, posted and returned with its own IRN and QR code. Digi Invoice checks each invoice against the FBR DI v1.12 rules before submission, so invoices are far less likely to be rejected and trigger the daily penalty.

Getting onto the system before your category's deadline — rather than after a penalty — is the cheapest compliance decision a business can make.