The Wealth Statement: Who Has to File One and What Goes In It

The wealth statement is the part of filing that people find uncomfortable, because it is not about income. It is about what you own, and about explaining how what you own changed during the year.

What it is

A wealth statement sets out your assets and liabilities at the end of the tax year, alongside the same figures for the year before. Attached to it is a reconciliation that has to account for the movement between the two.

The logic is simple. If your net worth grew by a certain amount during the year, that growth should be explained by your declared income, minus what you spent, plus anything you received that is not income, such as a gift or an inheritance. Where the increase cannot be explained, that is what the FBR is looking at.

Who has to file one

Under section 116 of the Income Tax Ordinance, a resident individual filing a return is generally required to file a wealth statement with it. The requirement has been broadened over the years, and the practical position now is that if you are a resident individual filing a return, you should expect to file one.

What goes in it

• Immovable property, with cost and the year acquired
• Vehicles
• Bank balances and cash in hand
• Investments, including shares, funds, savings certificates and prize bonds
• Business capital, if you run one
• Loans and advances you have given out
• Household items and personal effects of significant value
• Against all of that, your liabilities, including loans and mortgages

Two practical points

First, assets are normally declared at cost rather than at current market value. A plot bought in 2015 goes in at what you paid for it, not what it is worth today. People who declare current values create an unexplained jump in net worth for themselves.

Second, be consistent year to year. The reconciliation compares this year against last year, so an asset that appears from nowhere, or quietly disappears, invites a question. If you are correcting an earlier error, it is better to do so deliberately and be able to explain it.

Why the household expenses figure matters

The reconciliation includes what you spent on living. Understating it does not help you. If you declare modest expenses and a large increase in assets, the gap has to come from somewhere, and the return itself points at the problem.

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Last updated: 28 July 2026

Sources

• Income Tax Ordinance 2001, section 116 (wealth statement)
• Income Tax Ordinance 2001, section 116 read with the reconciliation requirement
• FBR, return and wealth statement filing guidance, Federal Board of Revenue (fbr.gov.pk)

This article 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.