Reporting Foreign Income in the New IRIS Return
If you earned salary from a foreign employer, payments from overseas clients, foreign business profits, rental income from overseas property, foreign dividends, bank interest, royalties, or capital gains on foreign assets, that income goes into the Foreign Sources section. Select it as an income source on the Return Prerequisites screen if any of this applies to you.
For the full return walkthrough from login to submission, see our step-by-step guide to filing your income tax return online.
Step 1: Add Your Foreign Tax Identification Number
Navigate to Foreign Sources and select Foreign Sources. Click “+ Add Tax Identification No.,” enter your Foreign Tax Identification Number in the pop-up, select the applicable country from the drop-down, and click Add. You can edit or delete this record later using the buttons next to it.
Step 2: Add Each Type of Foreign Income
The return has separate fields for each category of foreign income – add whichever apply to you:
- Foreign Property Income/Loss – click the + icon against this field, enter the Foreign Property Address, and click Add.
- Foreign Business Income/Loss – click the + icon, enter the Business Name and Business Address in the pop-up, and click Add.
- Foreign Capital Gain/Loss – click the + icon, enter a Description, and click Add.
- Foreign Other Sources Income/Loss – click the + icon, enter the Other Sources Description, and click Add.
- Foreign Salary Income – click the + icon, enter the Employer Name, and click Add.
Once added, all your entries display on screen. Enter the required amounts against each, click Calculate, then Next.
Common Mistakes We See With Foreign Income
- Skipping the Tax Identification Number step. This needs to be added first and tied to the correct country before your foreign income entries are complete.
- Lumping different foreign income types together instead of using the specific field for each – foreign salary, foreign property, foreign business, foreign capital gains, and foreign other sources each have their own dedicated entry point and are tracked separately.
- Forgetting foreign bank interest or dividends because they feel “already taxed abroad” – they still need to be declared here, and foreign tax credits are handled separately from the reporting itself.
FAQ
Do I need to report foreign income if tax was already deducted abroad?
Yes – foreign income still needs to be declared in this section. Any foreign tax already paid is generally addressed through tax credit provisions, not by omitting the income.
What if I have income from more than one foreign country?
Add a Tax Identification Number entry for each relevant country, and add your income entries against the applicable categories as needed.
Is foreign salary reported here or under the regular Employment section?
Foreign salary income has its own dedicated field under Foreign Sources – it’s kept separate from the Employment section, which is for salary from a Pakistan-based employer.
