ISLAMABAD: The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has issued a draft Statutory Regulatory Order (SRO) proposing the imposition of tax on social media account holders outside Pakistan with more than 50,000 users (subscribers) in Pakistan.
The intended measure means over 50,000 subscribers per tax year, or 12,250 in three months, are required to bring social media earnings, including platforms like YouTube and other monetised digital channels, into the tax net.
The FBR has issued draft amendments and stated that non-resident persons having more than 50,000 subscribers or followers in a tax year in Pakistan or more than 12,250 subscribers/followers in a quarter on social media shall have a significant economic presence in Pakistan in terms of Section 101(3B)(b).
The FBR has made it mandatory for both resident and non-resident persons deriving income from interaction with users in Pakistan through social media platforms to pay quarterly advance tax and also file a special income tax return.
The FBR on Thursday issued SRO.545 (i)/2026, and in case of local Pakistanis, issued SRO.546 (I)/2026. The “Revenue per mille” means the revenue generated per 1000 views on the video shared on YouTube. For this Special Procedure, it shall be taken as Rs195 and is subject to revision from time to time, the FBR added. The rate can change in the future if the FBR updates its formula. This helps the tax authority determine how much income to include when calculating taxes on YouTube earnings.
Under the new regulations, every non-resident person deriving income from interaction with users in Pakistan through social media platforms to the extent such income constitutes Pakistan-source income. The FBR’s rules shall apply for the purpose of section 99C of the Income Tax Ordinance, 2001 to provide a special procedure for the computation of income of non-resident persons earning income from remunerative social media content. It has also specified a procedure for the calculation of income from remunerative Social Media Content. The minimum income of a person from remunerative social media content shall be calculated as per the prescribed formula.
The threshold for number of users shall be number of users to qualify for “Systemic and Continuous Soliciting of Business Activities or engaging in Interaction through Digital Means” would be exceeding 50,000 users during a tax year or twelve thousand two hundred and fifty users during a quarter. This may include persons with more than 50,000 subscribers or followers, and persons with lesser followers/subscribers but with greater engagement count with the viewers. Every person under this special procedure shall pay advance income tax calculated by applying the procedure given in rule -l9M and rule-19N above for one quarter and shall be payable or recoverable, as the case may be.
The declaration of such income shall be made in a special part of Income Tax Return for each tax year. Where the declaration of income is less than the amount calculated in rule -19M and rule-19N, the relevant commissioner may rectify this error omission or commission in the return and proceed to recover the amount due from the taxpayer as per the provisions of the Income Tax Ordinance, 2001.
In case of local Pakistanis, the FBR has issued an SRO.546(I)/2026 to notify special procedure for taxation of persons earning income from remunerative social media content. The new taxation procedure will be applicable to every resident person deriving income from interaction with users in Pakistan through social media platforms. “Revenue per mille” means the revenue generated per 1000 views on the video shared on Youtube. For the purpose of this Special Procedure, it shall be taken as PKR195 and is subject to revision from time to time. According to the new regulations, the rules shall apply for the purpose of Section 99C of the Income Tax Ordinance 2001 to provide special procedure for computation of income of resident persons earning income from remunerative social media content.
Every person under this special procedure shall pay advance income tax calculated by applying the procedure given in rule-l3ZK and rule-132L above for one quarter and shall be payable or recoverable, as the case may be. The declaration of such income shall be made in a special part of Income Tax Return for each tax year.
Where the declaration of Income is less than the amount calculated in rule- l3ZK and rule-132L, the relevant commissioner may rectify this error of omission or commission in the return and proceed to recover the amount due from the taxpayer as per the provisions of the Income Tax Ordinance. 2001, the FBR added.
