You Have Never Filed a Tax Return. Where Do You Start?
Coming into the tax system late feels worse than it is. The process is the same whether you are 25 or 55, and the FBR is not waiting to punish you for turning up.
Step one: find out if you are already registered
Plenty of people have an NTN they know nothing about, created by a former employer or an agent. Check your CNIC against the FBR verification service before you register anything. A duplicate registration is a nuisance to unpick.
Step two: register if you need to
Registration is free and done through the FBR IRIS portal (iris.fbr.gov.pk). For an individual, your CNIC serves as your tax number.
Step three: work out what you actually need to declare
For a salaried person this is usually simpler than expected. Ask your employer for a salary certificate for the tax year, which sets out what you were paid and what tax was deducted. Then collect:
- Bank statements for the year, and any certificate of tax deducted on profit
- Details of property you own, with purchase dates and values
- Vehicle details, if any
- Any other income, including rent, freelance work or a second business
- Records of tax already deducted from you, since it counts towards your bill
Step four: file the current year first
Do not start with the oldest year. File the return for the most recent completed tax year, by the due date if you still can. That is what puts you on the Active Taxpayers List and stops the ongoing cost of non-filer withholding rates.
Step five: then decide about earlier years
Whether to file for years you missed depends on your position, and this is the point at which talking to a practitioner is usually worth the fee. Filing an old return can be sensible if tax was over-deducted from you and is recoverable, or if you need a clean record for a visa or a loan. It is a different calculation if there is undeclared income involved.
What you should not do is decide that because you cannot fix every past year, there is no point filing this one.
A note on fear
The most common reason people stay outside the system is a worry that filing will trigger questions. In practice, the group that attracts attention is not people who file imperfectly. It is people who own visible assets, make large transactions, and have no return on record at all.
Last updated: 28 July 2026
Sources
- FBR, taxpayer registration and return filing guidance, Federal Board of Revenue (fbr.gov.pk)
- FBR IRIS portal (iris.fbr.gov.pk)
- Income Tax Ordinance 2001, sections 114 and 118 (obligation to furnish a return)
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.
