What FBR published between 3 and 7 August 2026

The Federal Board of Revenue issued several material operational updates during the review period. The most immediate are Sales Tax General Order No. 16 of 2026 for qualifying iron and steel manufacturers and Sales Tax General Order No. 15 of 2026 for very small confectionery products.

FBR also converted the income-tax scrutiny-committee jurisdiction draft reported last week into a final rule, added specific E-8 shop values to Islamabad's immovable-property valuation table, and published a separate customs-auction proposal that remains a draft.

The current steel list has 31 manufacturers

Sales Tax General Order No. 16 of 2026, dated 6 August, identifies 31 registered iron and steel manufacturers eligible to be charged sales tax at PKR 5 per unit of electricity through their distribution-company bills. It operates under S.R.O. 1245(I)/2026, the final steel electricity-tax notification covered in last week's post.

To appear on this list, the order says a manufacturer must meet the prescribed scrap-mix test for the specified HS codes, including direct purchases from Export Facilitation Scheme importers, and must be integrated with FBR's computerized system. The order applies to all electricity connections of the named taxpayers from 1 July 2026.

This is the current list, not the longer list issued two days earlier. STGO 16 expressly supersedes and rescinds STGO 14 of 4 August. Steel businesses should therefore check the 6 August order rather than rely on the withdrawn list. FBR may revise eligibility, and field formations may independently examine whether a manufacturer should be included or excluded.

Eight steel businesses were added to the voluntary-corporatization table

Sales Tax General Order No. 12 of 2026 is dated 31 July but appeared in FBR's current official updates after the previous weekly post. It adds eight newly incorporated steel entities to the voluntary-corporatization table after completion of the procedures set out in STGO 10 of 2026. The table carries the old and new tax identifiers, registered and factory addresses, and utility connections needed to continue compliance under the incorporated entity.

STGO 13, dated 3 August, corrects the name in serial number five to A-One Re-Rolling Steel Mills (Pvt) Ltd. This is a corrigendum to the recorded entity name, not a new tax rate.

Small confectionery pieces get a practical printing option

Sales Tax General Order No. 15 of 2026, dated 5 August, clarifies the printing requirements previously prescribed by STGO 08 of 2026 for Third Schedule goods. FBR says manufacturers and importers must still print or emboss the retail price and sales-tax amount in accordance with the mandatory specifications.

For chocolates, candies, toffees and similar confectionery where an individual wrapper has too little printable space, the price and sales-tax amount may instead be printed or embossed on a package containing no more than 100 pieces, provided the maximum retail price per piece does not exceed PKR 5. The sales-tax amount must remain clear, legible, conspicuous and indelible.

The clarification is narrow. It does not remove the printing requirement for confectionery generally, and it does not extend the exception beyond the stated package-size and per-piece price limits.

The income-tax scrutiny jurisdiction correction is now final

S.R.O. 1286(I)/2026, dated 5 August, finalizes the changes first published as draft S.R.O. 1239(I)/2026 on 30 July. In Income Tax Rule 231CB, the final notification removes CTO Islamabad from the specified paragraph for Committee No. 1, replaces RTO Lahore with RTO-I Lahore and RTO-II Lahore for Committee No. 2, and replaces CTO Karachi with CTO-I Karachi and CTO-II Karachi for Committee No. 3.

Last week's post correctly treated S.R.O. 1239 as a proposal. The legal position has now changed: the same jurisdiction corrections have been made through final S.R.O. 1286.

FBR added E-8 shop values to Islamabad's table

S.R.O. 1335(I)/2026, dated 7 August, makes a final amendment to the Islamabad immovable-property valuation notification under section 68 of the Income Tax Ordinance. It adds Category C shops in the Class-III Shopping Center at E-8 (Naval Headquarters), with commercial built-up values per square foot of:

PKR 25,000 for a ground-floor shop.
PKR 22,000 for a back-side shop.
PKR 11,000 for a basement shop or a shop on other floors.
PKR 6,666 for a blind-basement shop.
PKR 12,000 for a commercial flat or office.

The notification is site-specific. It should not be read as a general change to all Islamabad property values.

The customs-auction inspection rule is only a draft

S.R.O. 1277(I)/2026, dated 5 August, is explicitly a draft. It proposes requiring auction authorities to make goods available for bidder inspection three days before the auction and requiring bidders to give a prescribed undertaking that they inspected the goods and will not later seek a rate revision, compensation or cancellation because of an alleged discrepancy.

FBR allowed ten days from publication in the official Gazette for objections or suggestions. These proposed auction-rule changes should not be treated as final unless a later notification makes them.

What affected businesses should check now

Steel manufacturers: use STGO 16, confirm every electricity connection and the scrap-mix and integration evidence, and do not rely on rescinded STGO 14.
Steel businesses using voluntary corporatization: verify the identifiers and utility accounts recorded in STGO 12 and the corrected entity name in STGO 13.
Confectionery manufacturers and importers: apply the package-level option only when the individual-wrapper, package-size and PKR 5 conditions are all met.
Tax litigants and advisers: update the status of the income-tax scrutiny jurisdiction change from draft to final.
Islamabad property stakeholders: use the new E-8 entries only for the specified Category C premises.
Customs auction participants: monitor for a final notification; S.R.O. 1277 remains a proposal.

Official FBR sources

The bottom line

FBR's 6 August steel order is the operative PKR 5-per-unit eligibility list and replaces the 4 August list. The confectionery order offers a limited package-level printing option, while the income-tax scrutiny jurisdiction and E-8 valuation changes are final. The customs-auction inspection changes are not final.

Disclaimer: This article summarizes official FBR documents reviewed on 10 August 2026. It is general information, not legal or tax advice for a particular taxpayer, product, property, filing or transaction. Check the official Gazette, the current FBR register and any later clarification before acting.

FBR Weekly Tax Update: Steel Electricity Rate List and Confectionery Labelling