Tax residence in Pakistan for Indian taxpayers

Pakistan treats you as resident with 183 days in its tax year (1 July – 30 June); a Pakistani citizen is also resident unless more than 182 days were spent in one other country that taxes him or her as a resident. India and Pakistan have no comprehensive tax treaty, only the SAARC limited agreement — so dual residence is not resolved and relief is unilateral in each country.

Check your status: India and Pakistan

Free, no sign-up, about 3 minutes. Conclusion under Indian income-tax law, compared with the law of Pakistan and the tax treaty.

When Pakistan treats you as a tax resident

Pakistan's tax year runs from 1 July to 30 June. 183 days or more in Pakistan in that period — counting all stays together — make you a resident individual, whatever your nationality.

Federal and provincial government employees and officials posted abroad — for example to India — remain resident in Pakistan whatever the number of days.

Since tax year 2023 a Pakistani citizen can be resident with fewer than 183 days in Pakistan.

You were in Pakistan for 183 days or more in the tax year (1 July – 30 June) — under s. 82(a) of the Income Tax Ordinance, 2001 you are a resident individual and Pakistan taxes your worldwide income, including income from India.
You are a Federal or Provincial Government employee or official of Pakistan posted abroad — under s. 82(c) you are a resident individual for the whole tax year, however few days you spent in Pakistan.
You are a Pakistani citizen and in the Pakistani tax year you were not present in any other country, India included, for more than 182 days — under s. 82(d) you are a resident individual of Pakistan even with fewer than 183 days there.
You are a Pakistani citizen and no other country treats you as its resident taxpayer — under s. 82(d) you remain a resident individual of Pakistan even though you spent fewer than 183 days there.

When you are a nonresident

You are not a Pakistani citizen and spent fewer than 183 days in Pakistan in the tax year — you are a non-resident: Pakistan taxes only your Pakistan-source income.
You spent fewer than 183 days in Pakistan, you were present in another country for more than 182 days, and a country other than Pakistan treats you as its resident taxpayer — under s. 82 you are a non-resident: Pakistan taxes only your Pakistan-source income.

Where the rules of Pakistan clash with Indian tax rules

Collision: Pakistani citizen in India — resident of Pakistan with fewer than 183 days. Since tax year 2023 a Pakistani citizen is resident in Pakistan unless he or she was present in another country for more than 182 days in the Pakistani tax year and is a resident taxpayer of another country (s. 82(d)). If you live in India, are resident here under the 60-day test (60 days and 365 days in the four preceding years) but were not in India for more than 182 days within Pakistan's 1 July – 30 June year, Pakistan also treats you as resident. With no treaty there is no tie-breaker: both countries tax your worldwide income, and each gives only its unilateral relief. Keep a day count by country for both tax years and an Indian tax residency certificate (Form No. 43).
Collision: 183 days in Pakistan's tax year while resident in India. 183 days in Pakistan between 1 July and 30 June make you resident in Pakistan. Because India's tax year runs from 1 April to 31 March, the same months can fall in an Indian tax year in which you are also resident in India — for example in the year you move between the two countries. There is no treaty tie-breaker: both countries may tax your worldwide income for the overlapping period, and relief is unilateral only (India s. 160; Pakistan ss. 102–103).

What else to know

No India–Pakistan income tax treaty: only the SAARC limited agreement. India and Pakistan have no comprehensive double taxation agreement: FBR's list of Pakistan's full scope treaties does not include India, and FBR lists only an air transport agreement with India among limited purpose treaties. Both countries are covered by the SAARC Limited Multilateral Agreement (signed at Dhaka on 13 November 2005; in effect in India from 1 April 2011). It deals with exchange of information, assistance in collection and service of documents, and exempts only visiting professors, teachers and research scholars (up to two years), students (employment related to studies up to US$ 3,000 a year) and trainees; its residence article serves only those provisions. It has no rules on salary, business or investment income and no relief article. If both countries treat you as resident, there is no treaty tie-breaker: each taxes you as a resident and relief comes only from domestic law — in India unilateral relief under s. 160 of the Income-tax Act, 2025, in Pakistan the credit under s. 103 and the exemption of foreign salary taxed abroad under s. 102.
Relief without a treaty: unilateral credit in each country. If India taxes you as a resident on income from Pakistan, India gives unilateral relief under s. 160 of the Income-tax Act, 2025: a deduction on the doubly taxed income at the lower of the Indian and the Pakistani average rate of tax; claim it with Form No. 44 (rule 76 of the Income-tax Rules, 2026). If Pakistan taxes you as a resident on income from India, it credits Indian tax up to the Pakistani tax on that income at your average rate, separately for each head of income, with no carry-forward (s. 103); foreign salary on which tax was withheld and paid abroad is exempt in Pakistan (s. 102). To prove tax paid in Pakistan, a non-resident can ask FBR for a certificate (rule 19B).
Working in Pakistan while resident in India: no 183-day exemption. Salary for work done in Pakistan is Pakistan-source income wherever it is paid (s. 101). Without a treaty there is no 183-day rule that would exempt a short assignment: Pakistan can tax the pay for your days of work in Pakistan from the first day, usually by withholding. India, if it taxes you as a resident, gives unilateral relief under s. 160.
Non-resident of Pakistan: what Pakistan still taxes. As a non-resident you pay Pakistani tax only on Pakistan-source income: salary for work done in Pakistan or paid by a Pakistani government; rent and gains on property in Pakistan; dividends of Pakistani companies; profit on debt, royalties and fees paid by Pakistani residents; gains on Pakistani shares. Tax is mostly withheld by the payer, often as final tax, at the statutory rates — no treaty rates apply to residents of India. To claim relief in India, ask the Competent Authority for a certificate of tax paid in Pakistan (rule 19B).
Pakistani citizen moving to India: part-year rules. Pakistan has no split year: residence is fixed for the whole tax year (1 July – 30 June). A citizen who leaves Pakistan during a tax year and stays abroad for the rest of it is exempt on salary earned abroad in that year (s. 51(2)). If you leave with no intention of returning, notify the Commissioner at least 15 days before departure and file a return up to that date (s. 145). A citizen who returns after four non-resident years is exempt on foreign-source income in the year of return and the next year (s. 51(1)). India, too, decides status for its whole tax year.
Indian employee in Pakistan for up to three years (s. 50). If you are resident in Pakistan only because of your employment and are present for no more than three years, your foreign-source income — for example rent or interest from India — is exempt in Pakistan, except income from a business established in Pakistan and foreign income brought into or received in Pakistan. Your salary for work in Pakistan remains taxable there; India, if it also taxes you as a resident, gives unilateral relief.

How dual residence is resolved

There is no tax treaty in force between India and this country.

Terms you will come across in Pakistan

tax year: the Pakistani tax year, 1 July – 30 June (tax year 2027 = 1 July 2026 – 30 June 2027)
resident individual: 183 days in Pakistan, a government official posted abroad, or a citizen under s. 82(d)
s. 82(d) citizen rule: a Pakistani citizen stays resident unless more than 182 days were spent in one other country that taxes him or her as resident
FBR: Federal Board of Revenue — Pakistan's tax administration
SAARC Limited Multilateral Agreement: 2005 agreement on information exchange and a few exemptions; not a comprehensive tax treaty
foreign tax credit (s. 103): Pakistan's unilateral credit for foreign tax, limited per head of income, no carry-forward

Questions

Is there a double taxation treaty between India and Pakistan?

No comprehensive one. Both are parties to the SAARC Limited Multilateral Agreement (2005), which covers exchange of information, collection assistance and exemptions for visiting teachers, students and trainees — not salary, business or investment income, and it has no relief article.

I am a Pakistani citizen living in India — am I still resident in Pakistan?

Under s. 82(d) you are, unless you spent more than 182 days in one other country (such as India) in Pakistan's 1 July – 30 June year and that country treats you as its resident taxpayer.

How is double taxation relieved without a treaty?

Each country uses its own law: India gives unilateral relief under s. 160 of the Income-tax Act, 2025 (lower of the two average rates); Pakistan credits foreign tax under s. 103 and exempts foreign salary taxed abroad under s. 102.

Sources

Legislation and official guidance

Income Tax Ordinance, 2001, s. 82(a) — An individual is a resident individual for a tax year if present in Pakistan for a period of, or periods amounting in aggregate to, 183 days or more in the tax year (1 July – 30 June).
Income Tax Ordinance, 2001, s. 81 — A person is a resident person for a tax year if a resident individual, resident company or resident AOP for the year (or the Federal Government); a person is non-resident for a tax year if not resident for that year.
Income Tax Ordinance, 2001, s. 82(c) — An individual is a resident individual for a tax year if he or she is an employee or official of the Federal Government or a Provincial Government posted abroad in the tax year — regardless of days in Pakistan.
Income Tax Ordinance, 2001, s. 82(d) (inserted by the Finance Act, 2022; FBR consolidated text amended up to 30.06.2026) — A citizen of Pakistan is also a resident individual if he or she is not present in any other country for more than 182 days during the tax year, or is not a resident taxpayer of any other country. Applies from tax year 2023.
PwC Worldwide Tax Summaries — Pakistan, Individual: Residence (reviewed 24 Aug 2026) — Three tests: 183 days or more in the tax year; Federal or provincial government employee posted outside Pakistan; a citizen who is not present in any other country for more than 182 days in the tax year or is not a tax resident of any other country.
FBR — Bilateral full scope treaties (list of Pakistan's comprehensive double taxation agreements) — List of 68 countries with which Pakistan has comprehensive (full scope) double taxation agreements, including Bangladesh, China and Japan; India is not on the list.
FBR — Bilateral limited purpose treaties — Limited purpose agreements of Pakistan: India (air transport agreement), Jordan (income from airlines), Kenya (income from airlines and shipping), Saudi Arabia (income from airlines).
FBR — Multilateral treaties — Pakistan's multilateral tax instruments listed by FBR include the Multilateral Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters, the CRS and CbC competent authority agreements, and the SAARC Limited Multilateral Agreement.
SAARC Limited Multilateral Agreement on Avoidance of Double Taxation and Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters (Dhaka, 13 November 2005) — text on incometaxindia.gov.in — Signed at Dhaka on 13 November 2005; in force 19 May 2010; notified in India by Notification No. 3/2011 [S.O. 34(E)] of 10 January 2011 with effect from 1 April 2011. Articles: definitions, persons and taxes covered, resident (Art. 4, with a tie-breaker), exchange of information, assistance in collection, service of documents, professors, teachers and research scholars (teaching or research at an approved institution, up to two years), students (employment directly related to studies up to US$ 3,000 per annum), training, sharing of tax policy, final clauses. It has no articles allocating taxing rights on employment, business or investment income and no article on elimination of double taxation.
Income-tax Act, 2025, s. 160 — A resident who proves tax paid on income accruing outside India in a country with which India has no agreement under s. 159 gets a deduction from Indian tax on the doubly taxed income at the lower of the Indian and the foreign average rate of tax (the Indian rate if they are equal).
Income Tax Ordinance, 2001, s. 103 — A resident taxpayer gets a credit for foreign income tax on foreign-source income equal to the lesser of the foreign tax paid and the Pakistan tax on that income (average Pakistani rate × net foreign-source income), computed separately for each head of income; unused credit is not refunded, carried back or forward; the foreign tax must be paid within two years after the end of the tax year.
Income Tax Ordinance, 2001, s. 102 — Foreign-source salary received by a resident individual is exempt if the individual has paid foreign income tax on it; tax is treated as paid if it was withheld by the employer and paid to the revenue authority of the country where the employment was exercised.
Income-tax Act, 2025, s. 6(1)–(2) — Residential status is determined for each tax year. An individual is resident in India in a tax year if in India for 182 days or more in that year, or for 60 days or more in that year and 365 days or more in the four years preceding it.
Income-tax Rules, 2026, rule 76; Forms No. 44 and 45 — A resident gets credit for foreign tax in the tax year in which the income is taxed in India; credit is the lower of the Indian tax on that income and the foreign tax, per source and per country; not against interest, fees or penalties; disputed foreign tax only after settlement (Form No. 45, within 6 months of the month of settlement). Form No. 44 with a certificate of income and tax and proof of payment, within 12 months from the end of the tax year if the return was filed on time; accountant verification if foreign tax is ₹1,00,000 or more. Conversion at the TT buying rate.
Income Tax Rules, 2002, rule 19B — A non-resident may apply to the Competent Authority of Pakistan for a certificate of tax paid in Pakistan (by deduction, collection or otherwise) for presentation to the tax authority of the country of residence; proof of residence in that country is required.
Income Tax Ordinance, 2001, s. 101 — Salary is Pakistan-source to the extent it is received from employment exercised in Pakistan (wherever paid) or is paid by or on behalf of the Federal, a Provincial or a Local Government in Pakistan (wherever the employment is exercised). Dividends of resident companies, profit on debt and royalties paid by residents, rent and gains on immovable property in Pakistan, gains on shares of resident companies and pensions paid by residents are Pakistan-source; everything else is foreign-source.
Income Tax Ordinance, 2001, s. 51 — (1) A citizen who becomes resident in a tax year after being non-resident in the four preceding tax years: foreign-source income is exempt in that tax year and the following one. (2) A citizen who leaves Pakistan during a tax year and remains abroad for the rest of it: salary earned outside Pakistan in that year is exempt.
Income Tax Ordinance, 2001, s. 145 — A person likely to leave Pakistan during or shortly after a tax year with no intention of returning must notify the Commissioner at least 15 days before departure and file a return for the period up to departure; the Commissioner may also require such a return by notice.
Income Tax Ordinance, 2001, s. 50 — Foreign-source income of an individual who is resident solely by reason of employment and present in Pakistan for not more than three years is exempt — except income from a business established in Pakistan and foreign-source income brought into or received in Pakistan.
Income Tax Ordinance, 2001, s. 116A — A resident individual with foreign income of at least USD 10,000 or foreign assets of at least USD 100,000 must furnish a foreign income and assets statement (foreign assets and liabilities at year-end, transfers, foreign income and related expenditure).
KPMG Pakistan — A brief on Finance Act 2026 — The Finance Act, 2026 was enacted on 27 June 2026; its amendments to the Income Tax Ordinance, 2001 take effect from 1 July 2026 (tax year 2027) unless otherwise provided.
Vialto Partners — Pakistan: Finance Bill 2026-27 summary (employment tax) — Salary slabs for tax year 2027: 0% up to Rs 600,000, then 1%, 11%, 20%, 25%, 29%, 32% and 35% above Rs 7,000,000; the 9% surcharge (s. 4AB) on salary income above Rs 10 million withdrawn; maximum rate for non-salaried individuals stays at 45%.

Updated 04/11/2026. The result is for information only and is not tax or legal advice. Tax authorities and courts may interpret the rules differently, including because of circumstances not covered here, and the law changes. Consult a qualified adviser before making decisions.

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