Pakistan has reinstated an 18 per cent general sales tax (GST) on imported sugar, withdrawing a concessional rate that had been in place since August 2025, ARY News reported.
According to an official notification, the reduced rate of 0.25 per cent, which had been introduced to improve domestic sugar availability, has been withdrawn. The standard 18 per cent GST has been restored with effect from April 22, 2026.
The tax concession had originally been granted exclusively for sugar imported by the Trading Corporation of Pakistan (TCP) under a government-approved plan to bring in 500,000 tonnes of the commodity. With domestic supply conditions having improved since then, the government has now reversed the relief.
The restoration comes against the backdrop of a sharp surge in Pakistan’s sugar imports over the period when the concession was in effect. According to data from the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS), sugar imports between July 2025 and January 2026 exceeded $17.46 million, compared with just $211,800 during the same period a year earlier - a rise of over 7,900 per cent. In January 2026 alone, sugar imports reached $23.4 million, up 46.38 per cent from the preceding month.
Overall food imports also rose sharply during this period, with a cumulative increase of 19.26 per cent over the seven-month period, bringing the total value of food imports to over $5.5 billion. Other significant import commodities included palm oil at over $235 million, tea at over $37.65 million, and dried fruits worth more than $11 million.