The interim government has raised value added tax (VAT) and supplementary duty (SD) on more than 100 products and services amid the ongoing high inflation rates.

The VAT and SD have been raised on mobile phone calls and internet usage, clothing items, eating at restaurants, sweets, LP gas, biscuits and cakes, spectacles, and sunglasses, among others. As a result, the costs of these products and services will go up.

Two ordinances – Value Added Tax and Supplementary Duty (Amendment) Ordinance 2025 and The Excise and Salt (Amendment) Ordinance 2025 – were issued in these regards on Thursday night.

After publishing those ordinances by the government, the VAT Division of the National Board of Revenue (NBR) has issued necessary directives in these regards. As a result, the ordinances have already come into effect, meaning that additional VAT and SD have come into force.

VAT has been raised on goods and services:

Kitchen towels, toilet tissues, napkin tissues, facial tissues, hand towels, sunglasses, non-AC hotels, sweetmeat shops, purchases of companies, showrooms and shops of readymade garments with own brands [VAT has been raised from 7.5% to 15% on these goods and services], electric poles, automobile garages and workshops, repairing and servicing, automatic and mechanical saw mills, sports organisers, transportation contractors, suppliers to board meetings, tailoring shops and tailors, building maintenance agencies, social and sport-related clubs etc.

Besides, VAT has been raised from 5% to 15% on potato flakes, corn, biscuits made on machines, biscuits made manually, chutney, tomato paste or tomato ketch-up, or sauce; mango, pineapple, guava and banana pulps, tamarind paste, transformer oil, lubricant oils, LP gas, imported bulk petroleum bitumen, laminated driving licenses taken from BRTA, hard rocks, ferro manganese and ferro-silico manganese, ferro silicon alloys, CR coils from HR coils, GP sheets from CR coils, GI wires, electric transformers from 5kVA to 2,000 kVA, spectacles` plastic frames, spectacles` metal frames, reading glasses, and mattress made from cocoanut wastages. VAT on these goods has been raised from 5% to 15%. Besides, VAT on restaurants has been raised from 5% to 15%, inventing agencies VAT raised from 5% to 15%.