The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has announced that, under the new Tax Regime for E-commerce, online marketplaces (OMPs) and courier services will no longer be permitted to offer their services to unregistered sellers starting July 1, 2025.
In a recent income tax circular, the FBR clarified that all sellers engaging in e-commerce must be registered with the FBR for tax purposes. Online marketplaces and courier services are now required to file monthly statements about the vendors using their platforms.
The FBR emphasized that payment intermediaries and couriers must collect tax on behalf of each seller and deposit it in the treasury monthly. They are also required to submit a prescribed withholding tax statement containing information on all transactions from each seller using their platforms.
Penalties have been outlined for any non-compliance, including failure to register sellers or withhold the required tax. The FBR clarified that in cases where e-stores or mobile applications receive online payments, the acquiring bank will act as the payment intermediary for tax collection.Â
For cash-on-delivery payments, the courier service or aggregator handling the delivery and payment collection will be responsible for ensuring compliance with statutory obligations.
The move comes as the retail market in Pakistan continues to evolve, with many sellers in the online space not registered with tax authorities and operating informally. The FBR’s initiative seeks to streamline the registration process for e-commerce sellers, providing them with a simplified path to obtain National Tax Numbers (NTNs) and ensuring that tax is collected on all digitally ordered transactions through an effective withholding tax system.
As part of the tax structure, Section 6A of the Income Tax Ordinance has been introduced, which mandates that payments made for goods or services ordered through online platforms or websites will be subject to tax.
To facilitate this, changes have been made to Section 153(2A), making payment intermediaries such as banks, financial institutions, foreign exchange dealers, and couriers involved in cash-on-delivery transactions responsible for collecting withholding tax. A one percent withholding tax will be levied on the payment intermediary, and a two percent tax will be imposed on the courier service for cash-on-delivery transactions.
The FBR clarified that this tax is final and applies to income from both local e-commerce and export transactions. However, taxes under Sections 154 and 154A will not be applicable under this new regime. The terms related to this scheme, such as “e-commerce,” “online marketplace,” and “payment intermediary,” have been incorporated into the Income Tax Ordinance to provide clarity.
