How to File Income Tax Return in Pakistan 2026

Before you start

• Your CNIC and a mobile number and email registered in your name.
• Your salary certificate or tax deduction certificate from your employer.
• Bank certificates showing profit earned and tax withheld.
• Withholding tax receipts, for example from electricity bills, mobile phone usage or vehicle tokens.
• Details of assets and liabilities as of 30 June for the wealth statement.

Step-by-step

1. Register on IRIS. Go to FBR's IRIS portal and choose "Registration for unregistered person". Enter your CNIC, mobile number and email. You receive a password and PIN by SMS and email.
2. Open the return form. Log in, select Declaration, then "114(1) Return of Income filed voluntarily for complete year", and choose the tax year.
3. Enter income. For salary, enter your total taxable salary and any exempt allowances. Add other income such as bank profit or rent.
4. Enter tax already paid. Add tax deducted by your employer and other withholding taxes, which are adjustable against your liability.
5. Compute. Click Calculate to see tax payable or refundable. Compare it with our salary tax calculator.
6. Wealth statement. Complete Form 116 with your assets, liabilities and a reconciliation of wealth with the previous year.
7. Submit. Pay any balance tax through a PSID (payment slip) and submit both forms with your PIN.

After filing

Your name is added to the Active Taxpayers List (ATL) after the list is next updated, provided the return is filed by the deadline. Keep acknowledgements and documents for at least six years.

Mistakes that cause trouble later

Most filing problems come from a handful of habits. Avoid these and you'll save yourself a notice down the line.

• Leaving the wealth statement out. The return and the wealth statement go together. Submitting only the return leaves your filing incomplete.
• Not reconciling wealth. Your wealth at the end of the year should equal last year's wealth plus income, minus expenses and tax. If the numbers don't tie up, IRIS flags it and FBR may ask questions.
• Forgetting bank profit. Profit on savings accounts is income. Banks report it to FBR, so it should appear on your return too.
• Ignoring withholding tax you've paid. Tax deducted on your mobile bill, electricity bill or car token may be adjustable. Many salaried people never claim it.
• Using a phone number that isn't yours. Your IRIS PIN and password reset go to that number. Use one registered in your own name.

What if you made a mistake?

You can revise a filed return. Within a set period you can usually do this yourself through IRIS by filing a revised return, and later revisions need approval from the Commissioner. If FBR has already issued a notice on the original return, speak to a tax practitioner before changing anything.

How long does it take?

The first time is the slowest, mostly because you're gathering documents and learning the screens. Give yourself an evening. In the following years the wealth statement carries forward from last year, so you mostly update numbers. Many salaried people finish in 30 to 45 minutes once they've done it once.

Filing on the Tax Asaan app

If you'd rather use your phone, FBR's Tax Asaan app covers registration, filing for salaried individuals and checking your ATL status. The steps are broadly the same as on IRIS: log in, choose the return for the tax year, enter salary and tax deducted, fill in the wealth statement, and submit. The app suits simple salaried returns well. For business income, rental income or a complicated wealth statement, the full IRIS website on a computer is easier to work with.

What happens after you submit

IRIS gives you an acknowledgement slip straight away. Save it as a PDF. FBR may later send a notice if something in your return doesn't match the data it holds, for example a bank profit amount or a property purchase. Read any notice carefully and reply by the date given, either yourself through IRIS or through a tax practitioner.