Becoming a filer means getting your name onto the FBR’s Active Taxpayers List, and that happens by registering with the FBR and filing an income tax return. The whole thing is done online through the IRIS portal, it is free, and for a salaried person with straightforward affairs it is an evening’s work rather than a project.
The return being filed now is for tax year 2026 — the year that ran to 30 June 2026 — and the deadline for individuals is 30 September 2026.
Who can register online
- Individuals can register themselves entirely online, start to finish.
- Associations of persons and companies cannot complete the process online. They have to attend a Regional Tax Office, and the registration itself is more involved.
Note also that this covers income tax only. Sales tax registration is a separate process with its own requirements, and being an income tax filer does not register you for sales tax.
What you need before you start
Gather these first — the registration form asks for them and it is tedious to stop halfway:
- A mobile number on a SIM registered against your own CNIC. This matters more than people expect: verification codes go to that number, and a SIM in someone else’s name will not do.
- An email address that belongs to you personally.
- A certificate of maintenance for a bank account in your own name, as a scanned PDF. Your bank will issue one on request.
- If you have a business: evidence of ownership or tenancy of the premises, and a paid utility bill for those premises no more than three months old.
Step 1 — Check whether you already have an NTN
Plenty of people have an NTN without realising it — one may have been issued when you opened a business account or took a job. Registering a second time is not possible, so check before you begin.
For an individual, your NTN is your CNIC number. There is no separate number to hunt for. What you are really checking is whether you are already enrolled with the FBR, which you can do through the online verification service on the FBR website. Our guide to registering for an NTN covers this in more detail.
Step 2 — Create your IRIS account
Everything else happens inside IRIS, the FBR’s online portal, at iris.fbr.gov.pk. Which link you take on the login page depends on your answer to Step 1.
If you have never registered with the FBR
Choose “Registration for Unregistered Person” on the IRIS login page. A form opens asking for your basic details — name, CNIC, address, mobile number and email.
If you already have an NTN but no IRIS login
Choose “E-Enrolment for Registered Person” instead. This is the common case for people who were registered years ago through an employer or an accountant and have never logged in themselves.
What happens next, on either route
- You submit the form and are asked to verify your email address and your mobile number, with a separate code sent to each.
- Once both are verified, you receive your registration number (your CNIC, with no dashes or spaces), a password, and a PIN.
- You log in to IRIS with the registration number and password.
Save the PIN somewhere you will find it again. It is separate from your password and you are asked for it when you submit the return and the wealth statement — which is exactly the moment people discover they have lost it.
Step 3 — File your income tax return
Registering does not make you a filer. Only a filed return does. Inside IRIS, open the Declaration menu and choose the return for the tax year you are filing — tax year 2026 for the current season.
A salaried person declares salary income, any tax already deducted by the employer, and any other income. If your income is below the taxable threshold you still file — a nil return puts you on the list just as effectively as one with tax to pay.
Work out what you should owe before you start, so an unexpected figure on screen is something you can question: our income tax calculator gives you the slab-by-slab breakdown for any year from 2019 to 2027.
Step 4 — File your wealth statement
For a resident individual this is not optional — the return and the wealth statement go together, and the return is not complete without it.
The wealth statement lists what you own and what you owe, and reconciles the change since last year against your declared income. The reconciliation is the part that matters to the FBR: assets that grew by more than your declared income can support is precisely what it is designed to surface. Our guide on who has to file a wealth statement goes through it properly.
The FBR’s own walkthrough is worth having open beside you: the IRIS help guide (PDF), and there is fuller IRIS help documentation covering registration, returns and wealth statements.
Step 5 — Confirm you are on the Active Taxpayers List
Filing is not the same as appearing on the list, and the gap between them catches people out. Check by texting ATL, a space, then your 13-digit CNIC with no dashes, to 9966.
Two things govern the timing:
- A new list is published on 1 March each year, built from the returns filed for the tax year that ended the previous June. The return you file by 30 September 2026 feeds the list published on 1 March 2027.
- Within the year the FBR refreshes the list weekly, which is how people who file during the year get added.
So allow a week or so after filing before expecting a bank or a registration office to see you as active. If you have a property purchase or vehicle registration coming, deal with your status well ahead of the day rather than on it — see what a filer is and how to check your ATL status.
If you have missed the deadline
You can still file. Two separate charges follow, and they are commonly confused: the section 182 penalty for filing late at all, and the section 182A surcharge — Rs 25,000 for an individual — which you pay only if you want to be restored to the Active Taxpayers List before the next one is published. The surcharge is optional; whether it is worth paying depends on what you are about to transact. The late filing penalty calculator works out both.
Common questions
How long does it take to become a filer?
Registration on IRIS is usually completed the same day, sometimes within the hour. The return itself takes an evening for a straightforward salary. Appearing on the Active Taxpayers List then depends on the weekly refresh.
Is there a fee to become a filer?
No. Registration and filing through IRIS are free. The only amounts payable are the tax you owe, and the penalty or surcharge if you file late.
Do I need an NTN separate from my CNIC?
No. For an individual, the CNIC number is the NTN.
My employer already deducts tax. Do I still need to file?
Yes. Deduction is payment; the return is the declaration, and only filing puts you on the list.
Can I register if the SIM is not in my name?
No. The mobile number must be on a SIM registered against your own CNIC, because that is where the verification code goes.
Last updated: 27 August 2026.
Sources: FBR IRIS portal and IRIS help documentation; Income Tax Ordinance 2001, sections 114 (return of income), 116 (wealth statement), 181A (Active Taxpayers List), 182 and 182A.
This page gives general information about tax in Pakistan. It is not advice on your own situation. Rules and rates change, sometimes in the middle of a year. Before you act on anything here, check the current position with the FBR or a registered tax practitioner.