ICAP Certified in Accounting and Finance — FBR / IPO Pakistan / SECP / Compliance, Pakistan

Under the Income Tax Ordinance 2001, individuals with taxable income above the FBR threshold, all companies and AOPs, owners of immovable property above prescribed limits, owners of motor vehicles above engine-capacity limits, and persons holding commercial or industrial electricity connections must file. Non-resident Pakistanis with Pakistan-source income are also required to file. The threshold and prescribed limits are revised by the Finance Act each year, so we always check the current FBR position before filing.

NTN (National Tax Number) is your income tax identifier with FBR — required for tax return filing, opening business bank accounts and tendering. STRN (Sales Tax Registration Number) is a separate registration required only if you make taxable supplies above the FBR sales tax threshold, or if you are an importer, manufacturer or specified service provider. Many small businesses need only NTN; once you cross the sales tax threshold or import goods, STRN becomes mandatory.

You appear on the FBR Active Taxpayer List for a tax year by filing your income tax return for the previous tax year on or before the due date and paying any tax due. Late filers can still join the ATL after paying a surcharge prescribed under the Income Tax Ordinance. Being on the ATL reduces withholding tax rates on banking, vehicle and property transactions — for many clients this is the single largest tax saving in the year.

A Private Limited or Single-Member Company is normally registered with SECP via the eServices portal within 1 to 4 working days once name reservation is confirmed and incorporation documents are signed. We typically allow 5 to 7 working days end-to-end to cover document preparation, digital signatures, name approval and post-incorporation FBR and bank steps. Public unlisted and listed companies take longer due to additional regulatory requirements.

A Private Limited Company requires at least two shareholders and is governed by the Companies Act 2017 under SECP. A Single-Member Company (SMC) is a private limited company with only one shareholder, requiring a nominee director. An Association of Persons (AOP) is an unincorporated arrangement of two or more persons sharing profits — it is registered only with FBR (for tax purposes), not SECP, and offers no limited liability. Choice depends on liability appetite, scale, banking and tendering requirements, and tax planning.

Under the Employees' Old-Age Benefits Act 1976, registration with the Employees' Old-Age Benefits Institution is mandatory for any establishment employing five or more persons. Employer contribution is 5% of the prescribed minimum wage per insured employee and employee contribution is 1%. Contributions must be deposited monthly. Failure to register exposes the establishment to back-dated contributions and penalties.

An IPO Pakistan trademark application, where no objection is raised and no opposition is filed, typically takes 12 to 24 months from filing to registration certificate. The stages are: filing and examination, acceptance and publication in the Trademarks Journal, a 60-day opposition window, and final registration. We file electronically via IPO Pakistan's online system, monitor each stage, respond to examination reports, and handle any opposition or hearing on your behalf.

Both are Provincial Employees Social Security Institutions providing healthcare, maternity, disability and injury benefits to insured workers — they differ only by province. PESSI covers Punjab, SESSI covers Sindh, KPESSI covers Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and BESSI covers Balochistan. An employer must register with the institution of the province where its workers are physically located. Federal EOBI registration is separate and applies in addition to the relevant provincial registration.

Yes. We handle Pakistan tax matters for overseas Pakistanis remotely from start to finish — NTN registration, ATL listing, declaration of foreign assets where required, treatment of dual-status income, and filing through FBR's IRIS portal. We work entirely over email, WhatsApp and secure document upload. We currently serve clients based in Canada, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, the UK, the USA and several other countries.

The Fourth Schedule of the Companies Act 2017 prescribes the form and content of financial statements for listed and other public companies in Pakistan, including required line items, disclosures and the IFRS framework to apply. The Fifth Schedule applies to non-listed companies, and SECP's AFRS for SSEs framework applies to small-sized entities. We always confirm which schedule applies to a company before drafting accounts — applying the wrong framework is one of the most common defects we see in SME audits.

Under SECP and ICAP guidance, companies in Pakistan apply one of three frameworks based on size and listing status: full IFRS for listed and large companies, IFRS for SMEs for medium-sized non-listed companies, and AFRS for SSEs (Accounting and Financial Reporting Standard for Small Sized Entities) for entities meeting the SSE size criteria. The thresholds for SSE classification are defined by SECP and revised from time to time — we check the current thresholds before deciding the applicable framework for each engagement.

An IPO Pakistan trademark is registered for an initial ten-year term and renewable for further ten-year terms indefinitely. The official renewal fee is prescribed by IPO Pakistan and is paid per Nice class. Our advisory fee is separate. We send renewal reminders to clients twelve months before the due date and handle the renewal end to end including any restoration if the deadline is missed within the grace window.