GST / Sales Tax Calculator

Pro tips most people learn the hard way

• Pakistani GST is 17 percent federal, but provincial sales tax on SERVICES is separate: Punjab 16, Sindh 13, KPK 15, Balochistan 15. So a restaurant bill in Lahore has 16 percent Punjab Sales Tax on Services, not 17 percent federal GST. Always read which authority is named on the invoice — they go to different governments.
• Mental shortcuts: to ADD 17 percent GST, multiply by 1.17 (so PKR 5,000 becomes PKR 5,850). To REMOVE 17 percent GST from a gross amount, divide by 1.17 (so PKR 5,850 ÷ 1.17 = PKR 5,000 net + PKR 850 GST). Memorise these two operations and you handle 95 percent of receipt verification.
• Pakistani retail prices in supermarkets and big stores usually include GST already ("tax included"). B2B quotations from suppliers typically EXCLUDE GST until you explicitly negotiate "inclusive" terms. The gap of 17 percent on a six-figure invoice is meaningful — always confirm in writing whether the quoted price is gross or net.
• GST is recoverable as input tax for FBR-registered businesses. So if your business spends PKR 100,000 on materials and pays PKR 17,000 GST, you can claim that PKR 17,000 against your own output tax due. Non-registered businesses cannot — which is one reason serious operations register voluntarily even below the PKR 5M threshold.
• Pro tip: if you're a freelancer billing Pakistani clients (designers, developers, consultants), check whether you need to register with the relevant provincial revenue authority — PRA in Punjab, SRB in Sindh — and charge sales tax on services. The thresholds are lower than federal FBR registration, and ignoring them invites notices and back-tax assessments years later.