Distributor & Retailer Advance Tax Calculator

The seller, not the buyer. A manufacturer, commercial importer or (for some sectors) a distributor selling onward collects advance tax from the buyer at the time of sale and deposits it. It is collected on the gross sale value, so it is a cash-flow and pricing problem for the seller long before it is anything else.

One covers sales to distributors, dealers and wholesalers; the other covers sales to retailers. They are separate charges with separate rates, which is why sales are split into two streams above. A buyer who is both — a wholesaler who also sells retail — is treated according to the capacity in which they bought from you.

Per the FBR Withholding Tax Rates Card for Tax Year 2026-2027: sales to distributors, dealers and wholesalers are 0.10% for buyers on the Active Taxpayers List (2.00% otherwise) for goods generally, and 0.25% (0.70% otherwise) for fertiliser; sales to retailers are 0.50% (2.50% otherwise). One nuance on fertiliser: the Finance Act text ties the 0.25% rate to dealers appearing on both the income tax and the sales tax Active Taxpayers Lists, with 0.7% and 1.4% for the other cases, while the FBR card prints 0.25%/0.70% — confirm which applies to your buyer before depositing. Choosing a sector and ATL status above fills the card figures and both fields stay editable. An under-collection lands on the seller, not the buyer. KPMG's reading of the Finance Act 2026 text is stricter for fertiliser: 0.25% only where the buyer is on both the income-tax and sales-tax active taxpayer lists, 0.70% if on the income-tax list alone, and 1.40% if on neither — enter 1.4 in the non-ATL box for that case.

The rate jumps, and not by a simple double: for goods generally the distributor-stream rate goes from 0.10% to 2.00% — twenty times — while fertiliser goes from 0.25% to 0.70% and the retailer stream from 0.50% to 2.50%. Tick the non-ATL option above and the preset fills the correct figures for the sector. Verify each buyer on the ATL before invoicing.

No — it is advance tax. The buyer takes credit for it against their own liability for the year and shows it in their return. That only works if the buyer's details are correct on the statement you file, so collect the registration number at the point of sale, not at year end.

The charge is on the gross amount of the sale as invoiced. Whether a particular element of your invoice is included depends on how the sale is documented, so if your invoices carry sales tax, federal excise or freight, get the base agreed with your tax advisor and keep it consistent across the year.

The seller becomes liable for the amount that should have been collected, plus default surcharge and penalty, and the expense side can be disallowed as well. It is one of the cheapest compliance failures to avoid and one of the more expensive to be caught on.