How to Check Whether You Are on the Active Taxpayers List
Your Active Taxpayers List status decides the withholding rate you pay on a lot of everyday transactions. It is worth checking before you sign anything large, because the person deducting the tax will check it too.
By SMS
This is the quickest method and it works from any phone.
- For an individual, send ATL then a space then your 13 digit CNIC number, with no dashes, to 9966.
- For an AOP or a company, send ATL then a space then the 7 digit NTN to 9966.
- For AJ&K taxpayers, use AJKATL instead of ATL.
You get a reply telling you whether the number appears on the current list.
Through the FBR online portal
The FBR runs an online verification service where you can check ATL status by CNIC or NTN. Use it if you want something you can screenshot, or if you are checking on behalf of someone else.
By downloading the list
The FBR publishes the Active Taxpayers List as a downloadable file. Banks, registration authorities and larger businesses often work from the downloaded copy rather than checking each name online. This matters for timing. If you have just filed, you may be on the FBR system while the copy someone else is holding is a few days old.
If you are not on the list and think you should be
Check three things in order. First, that your return for the relevant tax year was actually submitted and not left as a draft. Second, that you filed before the due date, because a late return does not put you back on the list by itself. Third, that enough time has passed, since the list is refreshed on a weekly cycle rather than the moment you press submit.
Getting back on the list
If you filed after the due date, filing alone does not restore you. There is a separate surcharge under section 182A for being placed back on the Active Taxpayers List, and it went up sharply on 1 July 2026: Rs 25,000 for an individual, Rs 50,000 for an AOP and Rs 100,000 for a company. Before that date the same three amounts were Rs 1,000, Rs 10,000 and Rs 20,000.
You are allowed to decline. Nobody forces you to pay the surcharge; you stay off the list and keep paying non-filer withholding rates until the next list is published. Whether that is the cheaper option depends on what you do with your money over the year, which is worth working out rather than guessing.
Why two people can get different answers on the same day
The downloadable list and the live check are not always the same thing. Anyone working from a file they downloaded earlier is looking at a snapshot. We have seen a copy of the list served from an FBR mirror that was more than a year out of date, so this is not a theoretical problem.
If a bank or a registrar tells you that you are not a filer and the SMS check says otherwise, that gap is usually the reason. Ask which source they are using and when it was last refreshed. It is a fair question and it is often the whole dispute.
Work out what it is worth
Two of our calculators answer the questions that usually follow this one. The filer status savings calculator compares filer, late filer and non-filer withholding on your own figures. The late filing penalty calculator works out the penalty and the restoration surcharge together.
Last updated: 28 July 2026
Sources
- FBR, Active Taxpayer List
- FBR online verification services, Federal Board of Revenue (fbr.gov.pk)
- FBR guidance on checking ATL status by SMS, accessed 28 July 2026
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.
