The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has revised the reporting formats for the electronic Proceed Realization Certificate (ePRC) and Statement of PRCs (S-PRCs) to better assist IT exporters, freelancers, and other service providers in reporting their foreign exchange income.
The updated certificate format addresses a long-standing demand from IT companies and freelancers, making it easier to report income in both local and foreign currency for tax purposes. These changes are designed to streamline the process of tax payments, benefiting the wider freelance and IT community.
As per the new guidelines, banks are instructed to issue ePRCs and S-PRCs in the revised formats starting October 1, 2025. The SBP has urged all banking institutions to ensure they implement the necessary system updates to comply with the new reporting requirements by this deadline.
The electronic certificates, introduced by the SBP in August 2022, provide proof of funds when customers receive foreign remittances in their Pakistani bank accounts. These certificates verify that funds such as workers’ remittances, export proceeds, equity investments, and foreign borrowings have been received from abroad and converted into Pakistani rupees.
According to Ibrahim Amin, Chairman of the Pakistan Association of Freelancers (PAFLA), the revised format will help freelancers save money by avoiding double taxation and enabling the tax authorities to calculate taxes based on current income instead of total income, which previously included unrelated sources of funds.
The update comes as Pakistan’s IT sector experiences significant growth, with over $400 million in IT remittances received in the first nine months of FY25 and IT exports reaching $2.7 billion during the same period.
Muhammad Umair Nizam, Senior Vice Chairman of the Pakistan Software Houses Association (PASHA), expressed optimism that the new format would encourage further foreign exchange inflows. He also emphasized the need for the government to resolve key tax-related issues facing the IT industry to meet the $25 billion annual export target by FY29.
