The Federal Board of Revenue has issued Sales Tax General Order No. 36 of 2026, introducing a simplified digital invoicing procedure for exploration and production (E&P) companies operating under Petroleum Concession Agreements. The new procedure applies to sales tax returns for December 2026 and subsequent months. Issued under Section 55 read with Section 23 of the Sales Tax Act, 1990, it addresses practical challenges faced by operators and non-operating joint venture partners in complying with mandatory digital invoicing requirements.
Under the revised mechanism, each joint venture partner will issue a digital sales tax invoice for its respective share based on the invoice issued by the operator. Non-operating partners may submit or upload invoices issued on their behalf by the operator, enabling generation of unique invoice numbers and QR codes through FBR’s system. Importantly, the operator will continue issuing commercial invoices in accordance with existing contractual arrangements, while digital invoices must be issued no later than the date of submission of the relevant monthly sales tax return.
Another important compliance facilitation allows E&P companies to retrieve parked invoices from the Digital Invoicing dashboard and transfer them to Annexure C before filing their returns. Invoices reported in Annexure C may also be amended or deleted before submission. The procedure recognizes the operational structure of petroleum joint ventures while maintaining digital reporting requirements. E&P companies should review their operator-level invoicing arrangements and system readiness ahead of the December 2026 compliance period.