What is FBR's Active Taxpayer List (ATL)?
By CheckOne by FormOne · Updated 21 Oct 2026
The Active Taxpayer List (ATL) is a list FBR publishes of people and businesses who filed their income tax return. If an NTN or CNIC is on the list, the taxpayer is "active" for income tax; if it is not, they are treated as not active.
How the list changes
- Check the source date. FBR announced daily income-tax ATL updates in October 2024. A stored file can lag behind the official portal; CheckOne reports the date of the file it actually used.
- Check current guidance. The same announcement revised the old annual March transition. Do not assume last year’s status or a fixed reset date establishes a taxpayer’s current status.
- Membership only. The published file lists who is on it. Being absent is the status; there is no separate "inactive" column.
Why it matters
Many payments in Pakistan carry tax withheld at source. The Income Tax Ordinance's Tenth Schedule generally sets a higher withholding rate when the person being paid is not on the ATL. The payer is the one who must apply the right rate, so payers check their payees' status.
What the list does not tell you
The ATL does not say whether a payee holds an exemption certificate, qualifies for a reduced rate, or what amount to withhold. Those need the payee's documents and, often, your advisor.
Official sources and scope
- FBR: daily ATL updates and the revised annual transition (S.R.O. 1638(I)/2024)
- FBR income-tax and sales-tax ATL downloads
- FBR withholding tax rate cards by tax year
- FBR Sales Tax Act publications
- FBR Income Tax Ordinance publications
General information, not tax advice. Verify the rules and source dates applicable to your transaction with your advisor. This guide does not publish an independently approved rate table.