Private limited company compliance calendar for Pakistan

A private limited company in Pakistan answers to two regulators for most of its routine filings: the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan for corporate matters, and the Federal Board of Revenue, together with the relevant provincial revenue authority, for tax. The obligations below are the ones a typical trading or services company meets every year. Exact dates change, and several depend on your financial year end, so confirm each one against the current rules before you rely on it.

Through the year, every month. If the company is registered for sales tax, a monthly sales tax return is filed with FBR or with the provincial authority that covers services in your province: the Punjab Revenue Authority, the Sindh Revenue Board, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Revenue Authority or the Balochistan Revenue Authority. Companies acting as withholding agents deduct tax at source on payments, deposit it, and file the periodic withholding statements that apply to them. Payroll deductions follow the same monthly rhythm.

At the year end. Keep proper books of account and prepare annual financial statements. Unless the company falls within an exemption, those statements are audited by a practising Chartered Accountant. The audited accounts are approved by the directors and then laid before the members.

After the year end, with SECP. Hold the annual general meeting within the period the Companies Act 2017 allows, lay the audited financial statements before it, and file the annual return reflecting the company's position as at the date of the meeting. Separately, any change during the year in directors, officers, registered office, share capital or shareholding has its own event-based filing, each with its own short deadline measured from the date of the change rather than from the year end. These event filings are where most penalties arise, because they are easy to forget.

After the year end, with FBR. File the annual income tax return with the supporting accounts through the IRIS portal. Companies also pay advance tax in instalments during the year, computed on the prescribed basis, and reconcile it against the final liability in the return. Filing on time is what keeps the company on the Active Taxpayer List, which matters because non-filers face higher withholding rates on banking, property and vehicle transactions.

Registrations to keep current. The national tax number, sales tax registration where applicable, provincial service tax registrations, and any sector licences should be reviewed once a year. Addresses and authorised representatives on each portal need to match the company's actual position, because notices are served electronically and a notice sent to an old address still counts as served.

A practical way to run it. Build one calendar that holds all of it: monthly sales tax and withholding, quarterly advance tax, the audit timetable, the AGM, the annual return and the income tax return, plus a standing reminder to check the event-based SECP filings each quarter. Assign each item to a named person, with a second name as backup. Keep the acknowledgement for every filing in one folder, organised by year, because the acknowledgement is what you produce when a query arrives two years later.

Where companies usually slip. The three most common gaps we see are event-based SECP filings made late, withholding statements that do not reconcile to the ledger, and an AGM held after the allowed period. All three are avoidable with a calendar and a reconciliation routine, and all three are cheaper to prevent than to regularise afterwards.

This article is general information, not advice. Contact us to discuss your situation.