Tax
Federal and provincial tax registration, planning and compliance for companies and their shareholders.
Tax overview
Federal tax in Pakistan runs on three main statutes administered by the Federal Board of Revenue: the Income Tax Ordinance, 2001 for income tax and Active Taxpayer List status, the Sales Tax Act, 1990 for sales tax on goods, and the Federal Excise Act, 2005 for excisable goods and services. Registration for all three happens through FBR’s IRIS portal, and staying on the Active Taxpayer List matters well beyond the annual return — withholding rates on banking transactions, property purchases, and some contracts shift depending on filer status, sometimes doubling for a company that has fallen off the list. Sales tax on services, by contrast, is a provincial subject since the 18th Constitutional Amendment devolved it in 2010, and each province now runs its own regime: the Punjab Revenue Authority under the Punjab Sales Tax on Services Act, 2012, the Sindh Revenue Board under the Sindh Sales Tax on Services Act, 2011, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Revenue Authority under the KP Finance Act, 2013, and the Balochistan Revenue Authority under its own 2015 legislation, with a separate ordinance covering services rendered in Islamabad Capital Territory. A business rendering services from Lahore, for example, registers with PRA in addition to its federal NTN — missing that second registration is one of the most common compliance gaps KBL & Associates sees in newly incorporated companies. FBR and the four provincial authorities have also begun harmonising filing through a Single Sales Tax Return for select sectors, which is gradually reducing the burden of filing separately in each jurisdiction.
NTN & Filer Status
Registration on FBR’s IRIS portal and maintaining Active Taxpayer List status.
Sales Tax (STRN)
Federal and provincial sales tax registration and return filing under the Sales Tax Act, 1990.
Tax Advisory
Transaction and structuring advice on the tax consequences of financing, investment and corporate restructuring.
Governing law & regulators
The statutes and regulators that actually govern tax matters in Pakistan — the specific instruments a filing or dispute gets tested against, not a general overview.
Federal income tax law, including NTN registration and Active Taxpayer List status.
fbr.gov.pk →Federal sales tax on goods, administered by FBR through the IRIS portal.
fbr.gov.pk →Provincial sales tax on services rendered in or from Punjab, administered by the Punjab Revenue Authority.
pra.punjab.gov.pk →Provincial sales tax on services in Sindh, administered by the Sindh Revenue Board.
srb.gos.pk →Provincial sales tax on services in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, administered by KPRA.
kpra.gov.pk →Provincial sales tax on services in Balochistan, administered by the Balochistan Revenue Authority.
bra.gob.pk →Common questions, answered directly
You need to file your income tax return by the applicable deadline after being registered with FBR and holding a valid NTN; ATL status affects the withholding tax rate applied to your transactions.
Other practice areas
Non-resident taxpayers and foreign shareholders
NTN and sales-tax registration, Active Taxpayer List status and filing obligations are handled for non-resident individuals, overseas Pakistanis with Pakistani income, and foreign shareholders in Pakistani companies. Filings are made through IRIS from Lahore.
Overseas instructions are a routine part of the firm’s work rather than an exception. Where a matter also touches family law — guardianship, succession or a child’s documents — it is handled by the same firm rather than referred out. See child adoption and guardianship from Pakistan or all thirteen practice areas.