Every filing season, the same errors cost Pakistani taxpayers money and stress. Most are avoidable with ten minutes of care – or by handing the return to someone who does this daily. Here are the seven we see most.
1. Using the wrong slab table
Salaried vs non-salaried tables differ. Applying the salary table to freelance income (or vice versa) misstates your liability from line one.
2. Ignoring adjustable withholding
Tax deducted on your salary, bank profits, contracts and imports isn’t lost – it’s adjustable against your final bill. Filers who skip entering it overpay.
3. Missing the deadline
Late filing risks penalties and – worse – months off the Active Taxpayer List, meaning higher withholding on everything until you’re back on.
4. Under-reporting “small” income
Freelance receipts, rental income, bank profits – FBR’s data matching keeps improving. Declare everything; the slabs and credits usually make the honest number smaller than people fear.
5. No record of expenses
Business filers without expense records can’t claim legitimate deductions. Keep invoices and receipts through the year, not in a panic in September.
6. Forgetting wealth reconciliation
Your declared assets should reconcile with your income. Unexplained jumps invite notices – the kind our appeals team spends its time resolving.
7. DIY-ing a complex case
Multiple income streams, foreign income, back years, or a notice in hand – these are professional-service territory. The fee is small next to the cost of getting it wrong.
Run a sanity check with our free calculators before you file – knowing the expected number catches most of these mistakes early.
Need help with your taxes? Try our free calculators or let our experts file your return for you.