FBR Digital Invoicing for Pharmacies, Chemists & Medical Stores (2026)

In short: if your pharmacy, chemist shop or medical store is sales tax registered, the items you sell must be billed through FBR's Digital Invoicing system. Most registered medicines follow a special low fixed rate, while the general goods on your shelf follow the normal rules. We explain both in plain words below.

FBR Digital Invoicing is Pakistan's real-time billing system (real-time means FBR checks and saves the bill the moment you make it). The rules come from SRO 1852(I)/2025, the notification FBR issued on 24 September 2025 that sets who must join and by when, with the last group in by 31 December 2025. Missing your date carries a penalty that starts at Rs 500,000.

Every bill you post gets an IRN (Invoice Reference Number — the unique number FBR gives each invoice) and a QR code (the square barcode a buyer can scan to check the bill is real). No IRN means the bill is not valid for FBR. A very small shop below the sales tax limit is not in yet; it joins after it registers or after FBR notifies its group.

Registered medicines are not taxed at the normal 18%. Drugs registered under the Drugs Act 1976 sit on a special government list called the Eighth Schedule (a list of goods that carry a lower, fixed sales tax instead of the standard rate). At the time of writing most registered medicines carry a fixed 1% rate under this list.

FBR calls this kind of sale a 'Non-Adjustable Supply' — in the test list it is scenario SN025. The word non-adjustable means the buyer cannot claim this tax back as input tax (input tax — the sales tax a registered business subtracts from what it owes); the small fixed rate is the final charge. Rates and lists change, so confirm today's exact figure with your tax adviser before you set prices.

One important limit: this medicine sale type is meant for pharmacies, chemists and distributors, not for the drug maker. If a manufacturer tries to use it, FBR rejects the bill with error 0093. As a retail medical store you are on the right side of this rule. Our guide 'FBR Digital Invoicing for Pharmaceutical & Medicine Distributors' covers the supply chain above you.

A medical store sells far more than tablets. Baby milk, soap, shampoo, toothpaste, sanitary items, cosmetics, sunblock and toys are all common. These are not registered drugs, so they do not get the 1% medicine rate — they are billed the normal way.

Many of these general items — soap, shampoo, toothpaste, shaving cream — sit on the Third Schedule (a list of goods where tax is charged on the price printed on the pack, not on the price you charge). For these the tax is worked out on the MRP (Maximum Retail Price — the fixed price printed on the product). Our guide '3rd Schedule Goods and FBR Digital Invoicing' explains that list in full.

Watch one trap: homeopathic, herbal, Unani and Ayurvedic products are not registered allopathic drugs, so they usually carry the standard 18% rate, not the 1% medicine rate. Each goods line also needs an HS code (Harmonised System code — an international product number FBR uses to name the item). Set the right code once per product and Digi Invoice reuses it.

The most common reason a medicine bill fails is a tiny one. On a fixed-rate medicine line, the Extra Tax box must be left blank — not filled with a 0. If any amount sits in that box, FBR rejects the whole bill with error 0091.

This blank-box rule applies to fixed-rate, reduced-rate and exempt goods across the board, so it is worth learning once. Our guide 'FBR Digital Invoicing Error Codes: Full List and Fixes' explains error 0091 and the other common rejections in plain words.

Digi Invoice handles this for you. When you pick a registered medicine, it sets the fixed rate, leaves the Extra Tax box blank, and posts a clean bill — so you never hit error 0091 by hand. Our guide 'How Sales Tax Is Calculated on an FBR Digital Invoice' shows every figure FBR checks.

A pharmacy serves two very different buyers, and the bill is not the same for both. A walk-in patient usually has no tax number — you mark that buyer as 'Unregistered'. A hospital, a clinic or a reseller may have an NTN (National Tax Number — the 7-digit tax number), which you record on the bill.

Why it matters: a registered buyer with a proper invoice and IRN can use it in its own records, while a walk-in patient cannot and does not need to give any number. Choosing the wrong buyer type is a common reason a bill fails, so set this field with care. Our guide 'Registered vs Unregistered Buyers on FBR Invoices' covers both sides.

On general (non-medicine) goods sold to an unregistered buyer, an extra charge called further tax is usually added on top of the normal tax. The figure changes over time, so confirm the current one. Note that the fixed-rate medicine sale is treated on its own and does not work the same way as ordinary goods.

Bill each product on its own line. For a registered medicine show the product name, the quantity, the unit of measure (UoM — how you count the item, such as strips, bottles or packs), the value, and the fixed medicine tax. For a general item show your selling price, or the printed price if it is a Third Schedule pack.

One invoice can carry both kinds of line — say a strip of tablets at the fixed medicine rate and a bottle of shampoo on its printed price. Keeping the lines clear is what keeps your return tidy. On a busy counter you can import many bills together instead of typing each one; our guide 'FBR Digital Invoicing Bulk Upload' shows how.

Medicines come back — a wrong dose, an expired strip, a returned item. You do not delete a posted bill; FBR keeps every one. Instead you raise a credit note against the original to reduce it, or a debit note to add to it. Our guide 'Debit Notes and Credit Notes in FBR Digital Invoicing' walks through it, and 'How to Verify an FBR Digital Invoice' shows how a buyer scans the QR code to confirm a bill is genuine.

You do not need to be a tax expert. Pick the product, and Digi Invoice knows whether it is a fixed-rate registered medicine, a printed-price Third Schedule item, or an ordinary 18% good, puts the amount in the correct box, leaves the Extra Tax box blank where it must be, works out the tax and posts the bill to FBR. You get the IRN, the QR code and a clean printable invoice back in seconds.

Save your full product list once — every medicine, syrup, baby milk and general item with its rate and HS code — and bill in a few taps at the counter, even during a rush. Every posted bill is stored in a built-in ledger, so at return or audit time your record is already organised.

Ready to start? Create a free account and post your first FBR-compliant pharmacy invoice the same day.

IRN (Invoice Reference Number) — the unique number FBR gives your bill after you post it. No IRN means the bill is not valid for FBR.

QR code — the square barcode printed on the bill; anyone can scan it to check the invoice is real.

Eighth Schedule — a government list of goods, including registered medicines, that carry a lower fixed sales tax (about 1%) instead of the standard 18%.

Non-Adjustable Supply — a fixed-rate sale, like registered medicines, where the small tax is final and the buyer cannot claim it back as input tax.

Third Schedule — a list of goods, like soap, shampoo and toothpaste, where the tax is charged on the price printed on the pack.

Further tax — an extra charge added when you sell general goods to an unregistered buyer, on top of the normal tax.