PSEB registration in 20 minutes
Registering with the Pakistan Software Export Board cuts the final tax on your IT export remittances from 1% to 0.25%. You do it once, online, and it applies to every remittance after that. Here is what it saves you, what you need, and exactly what to do.
1% or 0.25% on the same income
Export proceeds for IT and IT-enabled services are taxed under section 154A of the Income Tax Ordinance. The bank deducts the tax when your remittance lands, and that deduction is final: there is nothing more to pay on that income. The rate is 1% by default. If you are registered with PSEB, it drops to 0.25%.
The difference on Rs 4,000,000 of export income in a year:
| annual export income | at 1% | at 0.25% | you keep |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rs 4,000,000 | Rs 40,000 | Rs 10,000 | Rs 30,000 |
That is Rs 30,000 a year for a registration that takes about twenty minutes and costs a few thousand rupees. At Rs 8,000,000 of income the saving doubles to Rs 60,000.
Anyone exporting IT or IT-enabled services
PSEB registers two kinds of exporter: companies, and individual freelancers. If you invoice foreign clients for software development, web or mobile development, design, QA, DevOps, data work, technical writing, IT support, call-centre or back-office services, you are exporting IT or IT-enabled services and you qualify as a freelancer.
The income has to arrive in Pakistan through banking channels. Money that reaches you through Payoneer, Wise, a direct SWIFT transfer or a platform payout into your Pakistani bank account all counts. Cash does not.
You do not need a company, an office, or a minimum income. A freelancer registers as an individual, on the freelancer portal, with a CNIC.
Four things, before you start
- Your CNIC. A clear scan or photo of both sides.
- Your NTN. The registration number FBR issued you. If you do not have one, register on IRIS at iris.fbr.gov.pk first; it is free and takes a few minutes.
- Your bank account details and IBAN. The account your remittances land in. Have the IBAN written down, not remembered.
- Proof of IT export income. A Payoneer or Wise statement showing payments from foreign clients, a bank statement showing inward remittances, or a signed client contract. One clear document is enough.
Put all four in one folder before you open the portal. The session times out, and hunting for a PDF halfway through is how twenty minutes becomes an afternoon.
Five steps on pseb.org.pk
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01 · register
Create your account on the freelancer portal
Go to pseb.org.pk and open the freelancer registration portal. Sign up with your email and mobile number, then verify both. Use the email you actually read: the certificate and the renewal notice go there.
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02 · profile
Fill in your profile
Your name exactly as it appears on your CNIC, your CNIC number, your NTN, your address, the services you export, and your bank account with its IBAN. If the name on your CNIC and the name on your bank account differ, fix that before you submit.
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03 · documents
Upload your documents
Attach your CNIC scan, your NTN certificate or a screenshot of your FBR registration, and your proof of export income. Keep each file under the size limit the portal shows and use PDF or JPG.
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04 · fee
Pay the registration fee
Freelancer registration carries an annual fee. It is a few thousand rupees, and PSEB revises it from time to time, so check the current fee on pseb.org.pk rather than trusting a number you read somewhere. Pay it through the portal and keep the receipt.
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05 · certificate
Collect your certificate
PSEB reviews the application and issues a registration certificate with your registration number. Save the PDF and write the number down. Your bank will ask for it, and so will your tax return.
What changes, and when
Give your registration number to the bank that receives your remittances. The reduced 0.25% rate applies to remittances that arrive after your registration is active. Money that already came in stays at 1%, so registering earlier in the year is worth more than registering late.
The registration runs for a year and you renew it. Put the renewal date in your calendar the day you get the certificate; if it lapses, the rate goes back to 1% on everything that arrives while you are unregistered.
When you file your return, you declare your export receipts under section 154A and the tax the bank already deducted. Your PSEB registration number goes on the return. If your bank deducted at 1% for part of the year and 0.25% for the rest, both deductions are credited; the certificates from the bank are what prove it.
Two things people ask first
- Do I need a company?
- No. Freelancers register as individuals. The company track is a separate process for registered companies, and you do not need to incorporate anything to get the 0.25% rate.
- Do I need PSEB to file my return?
- No. You can file at 1% without it. PSEB registration only changes the rate on your export remittances. Filing and registering are separate things, and the deadline for your tax year 2026 return is 30 September 2026 either way.
See what the rate is worth on your income
Put in what you earned from abroad this year and FilerKaro shows you the tax at 1%, the tax at 0.25%, and how the final tax regime compares with normal slabs. No signup.