TrueFiler - Online FBR Income Tax Return Filing in Pakistan

TrueFiler turns the Income Tax Ordinance 2001 into a guided, question-and-answer workflow. You answer plain-language questions about your salary, business receipts, rent, capital gains, taxes already deducted and personal expenses; the calculation engine then derives your taxable income under all five heads, applies the Finance Act slabs, adjusts every credit and withholding your figures support, and produces your final position - tax payable or refundable. Before anything is lodged, an automated reconciliation pass (including the Section 116 wealth statement) checks that the numbers tie together, and a certified Chartered Accountant reviews the draft. Once you approve it, the return is prepared for lodgment on FBR Iris and you are notified as the status progresses.

With a traditional consultant you usually hand over a folder of documents and receive a completed return, without seeing how the numbers were derived. TrueFiler keeps you inside the calculation: you see each head of income, each slab, each credit, and the exact line where a withholding tax reduces your liability. That transparency matters because it lets you spot missed deductions and legally claimable credits while the return is still in draft. It is not either/or - the platform does the computation and documentation, and a qualified practitioner still signs off on the return. You also keep an auditable record of every input, which is what you need if FBR ever questions a figure.

You need your CNIC (your 13-digit CNIC is also your NTN for individuals), your employer's salary certificate or annual tax certificate showing gross salary and tax deducted under Section 149, bank statements or profit certificates, and details of any other income such as rent, freelance receipts, dividends, profit on debt, or capital gains. If you own a vehicle above 1000cc, immoveable property, or investments, keep the purchase documents to hand because they also drive your Wealth Statement and the withholding tax you can claim as a credit. The wizard accepts figures in rupees and lets you revise any entry before submission - you do not need to have everything finalised to start.

Drafting your return and seeing your tax position is free - you can complete the whole wizard and view your computation without paying anything. You only pay when you are ready to finalise and lodge. We offer transparent tiered packages for Nil returns, salaried individuals, businesses, and freelancers with live pricing managed directly on our platform. Professional subscribers get the full CA Practice Suite, including multi-head corporate computations, Section 113 and Section 4C engines, and audit workpapers, under a monthly or annual plan. There is no hourly billing and no charge for recalculating your draft as many times as you need.

Under Section 114 of the Income Tax Ordinance 2001 a return is required if your taxable income for the year exceeds the exemption threshold - Rs. 600,000 for a salaried individual in tax year 2025-26 - or if you fall within one of the statutory tests regardless of income. Those tests include owning a motor vehicle with engine capacity above 1000cc, owning immoveable property of 500 square yards or more (or a flat of 2,000 square feet or more in a rated area), being a sole proprietor or a partner in a firm, holding a commercial or industrial electricity connection, being a company or an association of persons, or simply holding an NTN. Non-resident individuals with Pakistan-source income, and anyone receiving foreign remittance through a bank, should also review their position.

In most cases, yes. The monthly deduction under Section 149 discharges the tax due on that salary, but it does not discharge the annual statutory obligation to file. Filing preserves your Active Taxpayer List (ATL) status and, more importantly, lets you claim what your employer could not: deductible allowances, tax credits for investments and donations, Zakat adjustment, and any higher-rate withholding you suffered on bank profit, cash withdrawals or vehicle registration. It also saves you from the separate penalty exposure in the Ordinance for not filing. Filing is therefore rarely just a compliance box - for salaried taxpayers it is often the year's most valuable refund claim.

Where the Commissioner has issued a notice under Section 114(4) and you fail to comply, the minimum penalty is Rs. 20,000 under Section 182, rising to 0.1% of the tax payable per day of default for a continuing failure to furnish the return, capped at the amount of tax payable. Late filers also pay a surcharge of 0.1% of the tax payable per month (or part month), up to a ceiling, on returns filed after the due date. The bigger cost is usually not the penalty itself but the loss of Active Taxpayer status: non-filers pay materially higher withholding rates on bank profit, cash withdrawals, property purchases, vehicle registration and capital gains, and can lose the ability to claim those amounts back.

Active filers benefit in three ways. First, lower withholding rates: 15% on bank profit instead of 30%, reduced rates on cash withdrawals and property purchases, and reduced vehicle registration tax. Second, credit for tax already suffered - the tax withheld on your utility bills, educational fees, cash transactions, business-class air tickets, vehicles and property is adjusted against your final liability, and only a filer for the year can claim that adjustment. Third, statutory credits under Sections 61 to 65 for investments in mutual funds, life insurance premiums, contributions to approved pension funds, and Zakat or donations to approved charitable institutions. For many households the differential runs into tens of thousands of rupees a year.