ISLAMABAD (Dunya News) – The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has fixed minimum retail prices for ghee and cooking oil as part of measures to curb alleged tax evasion and ensure sales tax is collected according to the actual value of locally manufactured products.
The FBR issued a notification under the Sales Tax Act, 1990, setting a mechanism for determining minimum prices of locally produced vegetable and animal fats and oils, ghee and cooking oil.
Under the notification, the minimum price will be calculated using the average national retail price for the final week of the previous month, as published through the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics’ (PBS) weekly Sensitive Price Indicator (SPI).
A reduction of Rs25 per kilogram from the average retail price will be allowed only to registered manufacturers and suppliers that comply with the FBR’s digital invoicing and production monitoring systems.
The FBR has divided ghee and cooking oil brands into three categories for the purpose of determining minimum taxable prices.
Category A includes Dalda, Habib, Sufi, Mezan, Soya Supreme and Eva. These brands will have a minimum price equivalent to 100% of the average national retail price.
Category B includes Manpasand, Habib Handi, Seasons, Kashmir, Kausar, Shah Taj, Kisan, Shafaq and Sultan. Their minimum price has been set at 93% of the average national retail price.
Category C covers all other brands, with the minimum price set at 85% of the average national retail price.
According to the FBR, the average national retail price for August 2026, based on prices published on the PBS portal on July 26, stood at Rs613 per kilogram/litre.
After deducting the Rs25 per kilogram allowance, the minimum retail price was calculated at Rs588.
For September 2026, the minimum prices have consequently been set at Rs588 per kilogram/litre for Category A, Rs547 for Category B and Rs500 for Category C.
The FBR said minimum retail prices for subsequent months would also be determined using the same mechanism based on the applicable PBS data.
The notification further states that if ghee or cooking oil is supplied at a price higher than the prescribed minimum, sales tax will be calculated on the higher transaction price.
The measure will remain applicable through the November 2026 tax period, according to the notification.
The FBR has introduced the pricing mechanism to strengthen tax collection and address concerns over under-invoicing or undervaluation in the ghee and cooking oil sector.