SRO 288(I)/2026: FBR's draft rules for online integration of businesses

In February 2026, FBR issued SRO 288(I)/2026, a draft notification proposing a substitution of Chapter VIIA of the Income Tax Rules, 2002, covering the online integration of businesses. It is worth knowing about, and worth being precise about what it currently is: a draft that has been circulated for comment, not a rule that is in force.

What it proposes

The draft sets out a framework for how businesses connect and report through FBR's online systems under the Income Tax Rules, running alongside the existing Sales Tax Rules framework that digital invoicing already operates under. The exact operational detail, thresholds, and timelines are what the draft period exists to work out, which is also why it is not something to treat as settled yet.

Why "draft" is not a technicality here

FBR's own framing is explicit: the draft is not yet effective and becomes enforceable only after a final notification is issued. That distinction matters practically, not just legally. Businesses have been caught out before by treating an FBR draft or a reported deadline as final, only for the actual enforceable version to differ in scope or timing once it is formally notified. Reacting to a draft as though it were already binding can mean spending effort on requirements that shift before they take effect.

Why it may not be finalised as written

The draft has run into a jurisdictional objection from the provinces. Punjab, Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan revenue authorities formally asked FBR not to finalise it, on the ground that the businesses it targets, restaurants, salons, clinics and similar services, sit inside the provincial sales tax on services base under the eighteenth amendment, not the federal income tax base FBR is regulating them through. As of this writing FBR has not issued a final notification or the Income Tax General Order that would carry an implementation date, and no public resolution of the provincial objection has been reported.

For a business that already reports to PRA, SRB, KPRA or BRA, this dispute is directly relevant. If the draft is finalised as written, the same sale could end up reported twice, once under the provincial services tax regime and again under this federal income tax rule. That is the practical reason to treat this as unsettled rather than as a compliance step to start preparing for on a fixed timetable.

What to actually do while it is a draft

The sensible position is neither to ignore it nor to over-react to it. FBR has flagged that businesses should begin readiness planning, which is different from implementation. That means knowing the draft exists, understanding roughly what it covers, and keeping an eye on further notifications, without restructuring your systems around specifics that have not been finalised. If your business is already integrated with digital invoicing under the current rules, most of the underlying groundwork, real-time reporting infrastructure, structured data submission, is likely to carry forward regardless of exactly how this particular draft lands.

Where to watch for the final version

FBR notifies changes like this through its own SRO publication channel, and it is worth checking there directly rather than relying solely on secondary reporting, since drafts do get revised between the version first circulated and what is ultimately notified. We will update this article once SRO 288(I)/2026, or whatever supersedes it, is formally in force.

General information, not tax or legal advice. This describes a draft notification that was not yet in force at the time of writing. The provincial objection is reported consistently across Business Recorder and Profit by Pakistan Today, both dated within a month of the draft's issue. Confirm current status with your tax consultant.