FBR STGO 08 of 2026: Printed Retail Price and Sales Tax on 56 Third Schedule Items — What Makers, Importers and Shops Must Do

This page explains FBR's STGO 08 of 2026. It covers the 56 goods that must carry a printed retail price and sales tax amount, and what 'clear and permanent' means. It also explains the August 2026 relief for small sweets, and how the printed price decides the tax on your FBR digital invoice.

STGO (Sales Tax General Order — an FBR order that gives practical instructions under the tax law) 08 of 2026 was issued in the first week of July 2026. It covers 56 categories of goods listed in the Third Schedule (a list in the Sales Tax Act 1990 of goods taxed on their printed retail price). Under section 3(2)(a) of the Sales Tax Act 1990, these goods are charged sales tax at 18% of the retail price. The maker must print or emboss the retail price and the sales tax amount on every packet, container, package, cover or label. For imported goods, the importer does this.

FBR said it found many cases where the printed price was missing, hard to read, or hidden. Logos, colour schemes, stickers and wrappers were covering it. That makes it hard to work out the correct tax. So the order tells every maker and importer of these goods to print the price and the tax in a clear, prominent and permanent way. It also says the attached Mandatory Printing Specifications must be followed in letter and spirit. Breaking the order can lead to action under the Sales Tax Act 1990. On 5 August 2026, STGO 15 of 2026 gave small sweets a relief, and a further clarification in mid-August 2026 widened it.

Here are the main families on the list. Drinks and foods: fruit and vegetable juices, ice cream, aerated drinks, syrups and squashes, powder drinks, milky drinks, tea, mineral water, branded spices, branded biscuits, imported coffee, imported chocolates, imported cereal bars, sugar confectionery, pasta, sauces and ketchup, jams and jellies, vegetable and animal fats and oils in retail packs, milk and infant preparations, and imported pet food. Cigarettes are also on the list.

Personal care and household: toilet soap, detergents, shampoo, toothpaste, shaving cream and other shaving preparations, perfumery and cosmetics, hair preparations, toilet paper and tissue paper, sanitary paper products, shoe polish, and petroleum jelly and paraffin wax. Home and building: household electrical goods, household gas appliances, foam and spring mattresses, paints and varnishes, cement in retail packing, tiles, bathroom accessories and sanitaryware, ceramic wash basins and commodes, crockery, household utensils including stainless steel, aluminium and melamine tableware, and plastic tableware, kitchenware, furniture and storage items.

Auto and travel: lubricating oils, brake fluid and other vehicle fluids, storage batteries, tyres and tubes, auto parts in retail packing, car accessories, motorcycles and auto rickshaws. Others: footwear, trunks, suitcases, handbags and wallets, DAP fertiliser, plastic sheets, film, foil and tape, and fermented beverages in retail packing. The list grew in 2026. The Finance Bill 2026 proposed 21 more retail-pack categories, and the July 2026 order covers 56 in total. Our guide 'Third Schedule Goods Under FBR in 2026: New Categories, Footwear and Retail Price Rules' covers the 2026 additions in detail.

The order uses three words: legible, prominent and indelible (indelible means it cannot be rubbed off or erased). In plain words, the price and the tax amount must be easy to read with the naked eye. The font size and colour must stand out from the background. The printing must be permanent. It cannot be a loose sticker that peels off.

Nothing may cover it. No design, monogram (a brand mark), sticker, wrapper or other material may hide the price or make it unreadable. FBR attached a set of Mandatory Printing Specifications to the order. Makers and importers should take that document from the order itself and follow it exactly. If anything is unclear, the order says to contact FBR's IR-Policy Wing (the Inland Revenue policy office at FBR headquarters).

Who does the printing? For goods made in Pakistan, the manufacturer prints it before the goods leave the factory. For imported goods, the importer prints it before the goods go to market. 'FBR Digital Invoicing for Importers: Green Channel at Risk from July 2026' covers the other 2026 rules for importers. A shop does not print the price, but it depends on it every day. See the invoice section below.

Makers of chocolates, candies and toffees told FBR that a tiny wrapper has no room for the price and the tax. FBR agreed. On 5 August 2026, STGO 15 of 2026 clarified the rule. Where the wrapper has no space, the price and tax may be printed or embossed on the outer package instead. At first this was allowed for packs of up to 100 pieces, as long as each piece had a retail price of Rs 5 or less.

In mid-August 2026, FBR widened the relief. The outer-pack option now covers packs of up to 250 pieces. Each piece must have a retail price of Rs 10 or less and must weigh 10 grams or less. Both conditions must be true. The printing on the outer pack must still be clear, legible and permanent, and every other rule in STGO 08 of 2026 still applies. Nothing else on the 56-item list gets this relief.

The printed price is not just a label rule. It is the tax base. On a Third Schedule item, sales tax is 18% of the printed retail price, not of your selling price. On an FBR digital invoice (an invoice sent to FBR in real time and returned with an IRN — the unique number FBR gives every invoice — and a QR code), the retail price goes into the 'Fixed/Notified Value or Retail Price' field. The value-excluding-tax field is set to 0. FBR then checks your tax against 18% of that retail price.

Two FBR errors follow from this. Error 0090 means the retail price field was left empty on a Third Schedule line. Error 0102 means your tax did not match 18% of the retail price. Makers, importers and distributors use the '3rd Schedule Goods' sale type (sandbox scenario SN008). A registered retailer selling to an end consumer uses SN027. A trade discount does not lower the tax, because the tax is on the printed price. Our guides '3rd Schedule Goods and FBR Digital Invoicing' and 'How Sales Tax Is Calculated on an FBR Digital Invoice: The Formulas FBR Actually Validates' show the exact fields and maths.

For a shop, this order is a stock-check rule. Read the packet before you bill. If a Third Schedule item has no printed price, you cannot fill the retail price field correctly. The goods may also be non-compliant at source. Ask the supplier, and keep the supplier's own digital invoice with its IRN. 'How to Check a Supplier Before Claiming Input Tax: FBR Invoice, ATL & Registration Checks (2026)' explains the checks. Sector guides for the shops most affected: 'FBR Digital Invoicing for Cosmetics, Perfume & Beauty Shops (2026)', 'FBR Digital Invoicing for Footwear & Shoe Shops (2026)', 'FBR Digital Invoicing for General Stores, Karyana Shops & Supermarkets (2026)' and 'FBR Digital Invoicing for Tyre, Battery & Auto Parts Shops (2026)'.

On Digi Invoice the Third Schedule sale types are built in. You type the printed retail price, and the platform sets the value field to 0, works out the 18% and posts the line to FBR. Create a free account, test in the sandbox (FBR's free practice system where test invoices do not count as real), and go live.

STGO (Sales Tax General Order) — an FBR order that gives practical instructions under the sales tax law. STGO 08 and STGO 15 of 2026 are about printed retail prices.

Third Schedule — a list in the Sales Tax Act 1990 of goods taxed at 18% of their printed retail price, not of their sale price.

Retail price (MRP) — the price fixed by the maker or importer for sale to consumers. It includes all duties and charges except sales tax.

Indelible — printed in a way that cannot be rubbed off, erased or covered.

IR-Policy Wing — the Inland Revenue policy office at FBR headquarters that answers questions about how an order should be applied.