Business & Corporate · Federal Excise Act 2005
Federal Excise Duty (FED) Calculator
Work out FED on an ad valorem or fixed-per-unit basis, with sales tax stacked correctly on value plus duty.
Step by step
How FED is worked out
Check how your item is charged
Ad valorem percentage, or a fixed amount per unit.
Enter the rate from the First Schedule
Item-specific, and revised most Finance Acts.
Set your quantity
Duty scales per unit for fixed rates.
Add sales tax
Charged on value plus FED, not value alone.
Reading the result
Duty first, then sales tax on top of it
Sales tax is charged on the value including excise duty, not alongside it. That single sequencing point is what separates a correct figure from a plausible one, and applying both rates to the bare value understates the total.
On a product carrying both, the effective burden is therefore higher than adding the two percentages would suggest.
Ad valorem and fixed duties behave differently
An ad valorem duty is a percentage of value, so it rises with price. A fixed duty is an amount per unit — per litre, per kilogram, per thousand — and does not move with price at all.
The practical consequence is that a fixed duty falls hardest on cheaper products, because the same rupee amount is a larger share of a lower price. That matters when pricing at the budget end of a category.
FED is not always recoverable like input tax
Registered persons are used to reclaiming input sales tax. Excise duty does not always work the same way; whether duty paid can be adjusted depends on the goods and the mode the duty is collected under. Assuming it behaves like sales tax is how it ends up mispriced.
Where this stops
Rates are entered because they are set by the First Schedule to the Federal Excise Act 2005 and revised by Finance Act. Which entry covers your product is the classification question that decides everything else.
FAQs
Federal excise duty FAQs
What is Federal Excise Duty?
FED is a federal indirect tax under the Federal Excise Act 2005, charged on specific goods and services listed in the First Schedule — commonly cigarettes and tobacco, aerated and sugary beverages, cement, motor vehicles above certain engine capacities, air travel tickets, and some telecom and financial services.
What is the difference between ad valorem and fixed rates?
Ad valorem FED is a percentage of the value or retail price. A fixed rate is a set rupee amount per unit — per stick, per kilogram, per litre, per bag of cement, or similar — charged regardless of the item's value. The First Schedule specifies which basis applies to each item, and some items carry both.
Why do I have to enter the rate myself?
FED rates are item-specific and are revised in almost every Finance Act, with further changes by SRO. A hardcoded rate would be wrong for most goods and would go stale quickly. Look up your item in the current First Schedule to the Federal Excise Act and enter its rate.
Is sales tax charged on top of FED?
Generally yes — where sales tax applies, its value base includes FED, so sales tax is charged on value plus FED rather than on value alone. That stacking is applied above. Set the sales tax rate to 0 if your item is exempt or zero-rated.
Is FED recoverable like input sales tax?
FED paid on some inputs is adjustable against FED payable on outputs where the law permits, but the rules are narrower than the input-tax regime for sales tax and vary by item. Confirm your entitlement with a tax advisor.
Related tools
Importing the goods instead?
See customs duty, regulatory duty and taxes stacked into a landed cost.
Open Import Duty Calculator