The standard rate is 16%. However, there are some items which are chargeable to sales tax at 18.5% or 21% of value of supplies.
Reduced tax rate
Reduced tax rates vary between 0% and 12.5%.
Other consumption taxes
Other consumption taxes are levied at the national level and the local level, which include tobacco tax, fuel tax, motor vehicle tax, transfer tax etc.
Corporate taxes
Tax rate
Corporate tax rate
35%
Corporate tax for small companies
20% to 35%
Capital gains taxation
Taxed at the normal corporate rate.
Main allowable deductions and tax credit
Expenses on raw-material, wages, salaries, reasonable bonuses and commissions, rents, repairs, insurance, royalty payments, interest, dividends, lease payments, certain taxes (sales, municipal, road, property and expenditure taxes and also customs duties), depreciation, expenditures for scientific research and contributions to scientific research associations and professional fees for tax services.
Other corporate taxes
Capital duty, Payroll tax, Real-estate tax, Stamp duty, Social security, etc.
Deductions and tax benefits are available for non-salaried class, but not for the salaried class. Such deductions include: - Donations to charitable organizations are deductible up to a certain limit; - Individual fixed deductions: PKR 50,000 for single employees, PKR 60,000 for wage-earning women and PKR 40,000 for the others; - 50% of special deduction for people above 65 years old, with an annual income which does not exceed PKR 200,000. There are other tax deduction allowances according to the status of each.
Special expatriate tax regime
No special expatriate tax regime exists in Pakistan.
Double taxation treaties
Countries with whom a double taxation treaty have been signed
The fiscal year begins on January 1st and ends on December 31st of the same year.
Accounting standards
The accounting standards in Pakistan are based on the International Accounting Standards Committee (IASC). While Pakistan adheres to 38 of 41 international accounting standards it does not yet apply IAS 15, IAS 29, and IAS 41 .
A public company, a private company which is subsidiary of public company, and certain private companies (with capital of at least 3 million PKR) have to be audited by a chartered accountant. You can contact an external auditor: Deloitte, KPMG, Ernst & Young, PricewaterhouseCoopers.