Filing an income tax return in Pakistan takes most salaried people less than an hour once they know what to expect. It is also what puts you on the FBR’s Active Taxpayer List, which cuts the tax you pay on property deals, vehicles and many bank transactions. This guide explains how to file income tax return on IRIS, the FBR’s online system, step by step.
For tax year 2026, which covers income from 1 July 2025 to 30 June 2026, the FBR extended the deadline to 15 October 2026. More than 5.1 million returns had been filed by 29 September, a big increase on the year before.
Table of Contents
How to file income tax return on IRIS: the short version
If you just want the outline before reading the detail, this is how to file income tax return on IRIS:
- Register on IRIS with your CNIC, own mobile number and email, and save your password and PIN.
- Open a new return for tax year 2026.
- Enter your salary and the tax your employer deducted.
- Add other income and the adjustable taxes you paid during the year.
- Complete the wealth statement until the unreconciled amount is zero.
- Submit with your PIN and download the acknowledgement.
Each step is explained below, with the points where people most often go wrong.
Who needs to file a return
You should file if you have taxable income, which for salaried people means more than Rs600,000 a year. You should also file, even with lower income, if you want to be on the Active Taxpayer List. Being a filer brings much lower tax rates on buying and selling property, registering vehicles, and some banking and investment transactions.
In short, if you earn a salary, own property or a car, or plan to buy either, filing is almost always worth it.
What you need before you file your income tax return
Gather these before you log in, and the process goes much faster:
- Your CNIC, and a mobile number registered in your own name.
- An email address you can access.
- Your employer’s salary certificate for the tax year, showing total salary and tax deducted.
- Certificates of tax deducted on bank profit, and any tax paid with electricity bills, mobile phone bills or vehicle tokens.
- Details of your assets on 30 June 2026: bank balances, property, vehicles, investments, gold and cash.
- Your previous year’s wealth statement, if you filed one.
Step 1: Register on IRIS
If you have never filed before, start with registration. Go to iris.fbr.gov.pk and choose the option for registration of an unregistered person. Enter your CNIC, name, mobile number and email address. The FBR sends verification codes to your phone and email, and once you enter them you receive your password and a PIN.
Keep both safe. The password logs you in, and the PIN is needed to submit your return. Your CNIC number becomes your registration number.
Use a mobile number that is registered in your own name. Registration often fails when people use a relative’s number.
Step 2: Open the return for the right tax year
Log in to IRIS and open a new income tax return. Choose tax year 2026. This is the most common mistake people make: tax year 2026 is the year that ended on 30 June 2026, not the current financial year.
Salaried individuals with simple affairs can use the simplified return, which asks for fewer details than the full form.
Step 3: Enter your salary and the tax deducted
Copy the figures from your employer’s salary certificate: total salary received during the year and total tax deducted. If you changed jobs during the year, add up the figures from each employer’s certificate.
The system calculates the tax due on your salary using the slabs that applied to tax year 2026, and compares it with the tax already deducted.
Step 4: Add other income and adjustable taxes
Declare any other income, such as profit on bank deposits or National Savings, rent, or freelance earnings. Then enter adjustable taxes you paid during the year. These include tax deducted on bank profit, on electricity bills above certain amounts, on mobile phone usage and on vehicle registration or tokens. Adjustable taxes count towards your total tax paid, and including them can turn a balance due into a refund.
Step 5: Complete the wealth statement
The wealth statement lists your assets and liabilities on 30 June 2026 and explains how they changed during the year. It is where most first-time filers get stuck.
The principle is simple. Your assets at the start of the year, plus your income during the year, minus your personal expenses, should equal your assets at the end of the year. IRIS shows an “unreconciled amount” until the figures balance, and you should not submit until it reaches zero.
Enter bank balances, property at the price you paid, vehicles, investments and cash. Then enter your household expenses for the year, such as rent, utilities, school fees and travel. Be realistic: expenses that look far too low compared with your income can attract questions.
Step 6: Submit with your PIN and save the acknowledgement
Check every figure, then submit the return and the wealth statement using your PIN. IRIS generates an acknowledgement. Download it and keep it with your salary certificate and supporting documents for at least six years.
After filing: getting on the Active Taxpayer List
People who file by the deadline are added to the Active Taxpayer List when the FBR updates it. You can check your status by sending “ATL” followed by a space and your 13-digit CNIC to 9966, or by using the ATL search on the FBR website.
Filer status is what earns you the lower tax rates. For example, in 2026-27 a filer pays 1.25% advance tax when buying property, while a non-filer pays 10.5% or more. Our guide to property tax in Islamabad shows how large the difference can be.
What happens if you file late
If you miss the deadline you can still file, but there are costs. A penalty for late filing can apply under the Income Tax Ordinance, and late filers are not added to the Active Taxpayer List automatically. To join it, you have to pay a surcharge, which for individuals is Rs1,000.
The FBR extended the deadline several times in recent years, but there is no guarantee of a further extension. Filing early also avoids the slowdowns IRIS tends to suffer in the last days before a deadline.
Common mistakes to avoid
- Filing for the wrong tax year.
- Leaving the wealth statement unreconciled.
- Forgetting adjustable taxes, which can lead to paying tax twice.
- Registering with a SIM that is not in your own name.
- Not saving the acknowledgement and supporting documents.
- Under-declaring assets that the FBR already knows about, such as property or vehicles registered in your name.
Where to get help
The FBR runs a helpline on 051-111-772-772 and offers the Tax Asaan mobile app, which handles registration and simplified returns for many salaried people. Tax facilitation centres in major cities help in person. If your affairs are complicated, for example with several properties, foreign income or a business, a registered tax practitioner is worth the fee.
Frequently asked questions
Is there a fee to file an income tax return?
No. Filing on IRIS or through the Tax Asaan app is free. You only pay if you owe tax, if you file late and need to pay the surcharge to join the Active Taxpayer List, or if you choose to hire a tax practitioner. Be wary of anyone who charges a large fee just to submit a simple salaried return, because most people can learn how to file income tax return themselves in one sitting.
What is the deadline for tax year 2026?
The FBR extended it to 15 October 2026 for individuals who were due to file by 30 September.
Do I need to file if my employer already deducts tax?
Yes, if you want to be on the Active Taxpayer List. Deduction at source does not make you a filer; submitting a return does.
Can I file my return on my phone?
Yes. IRIS works in a mobile browser, and the FBR’s Tax Asaan app supports simplified returns.
How do I check if I am on the Active Taxpayer List?
Send “ATL”, a space and your CNIC number to 9966, or search the list on the FBR website.
Which slabs apply to my return?
The tax year 2026 return uses the 2025-26 slabs. The new slabs apply to income from July 2026; see our guide to income tax slabs 2026-27.
This guide is general information, not tax advice. For more detail, see the FBR’s official website and Dawn’s report on the deadline extension.
