Section 153 Withholding Tax Exemption Certificate Services in Pakistan

It is a certificate issued by the Commissioner Inland Revenue under Section 153 of the Income Tax Ordinance, 2001. It tells your clients and other withholding agents to pay you without deducting income tax at source, or at a reduced rate.

Generally, a taxpayer who is on the Active Taxpayer List (ATL), receives payments for the supply of goods (153(1)(a)), services (153(1)(b)) or contracts (153(1)(c)), and has filed income tax returns regularly can apply. FBR looks at your tax history and compliance record before issuing the certificate.

Section 153(1)(a) covers the supply of goods, 153(1)(b) covers services, and 153(1)(c) covers the execution of contracts. Each has its own withholding rate and exemption conditions, and we identify which one applies to your business.

Processing time depends on your documents and on the Commissioner’s office. Complete applications move faster, so we prepare everything carefully, submit it through IRIS and follow up until you get a decision.

The certificate is usually valid for one tax year, so it needs to be renewed each year before it expires. We keep track of your renewal date so you are never caught without a valid certificate.

You need: NTN certificate, last 2 years income tax returns, ATL status confirmation, business registration certificate, bank maintenance certificate, copies of relevant contracts or agreements, and FBR IRIS portal credentials.

No. Once a valid exemption certificate is shown to a withholding agent, they are required to honour it. An agent who still deducts tax despite a valid certificate is not complying with the Income Tax Ordinance, 2001, and the deduction can be challenged.

Applications are usually rejected because of incomplete documents, not being on the ATL, or grounds that FBR does not accept. We review the reason for rejection, fix the documents and grounds, and resubmit the application.

TaxAccountant.pk charges PKR 15,000 for a standard Section 153 exemption certificate application, including eligibility review, document compilation, IRIS filing, and Commissioner IR correspondence. Complex multi-contract cases may vary. Contact us on WhatsApp for a quote.

Yes. The whole process is online through FBR IRIS. We work with businesses in Islamabad, Lahore, Karachi, Faisalabad, Multan, Peshawar and other cities across Pakistan. You share your documents digitally and we handle the rest.