Karachi, September 15, 2025 – The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) is on the verge of achieving a historic milestone of 8 million active taxpayers for the tax year 2024, according to the latest figures released on Monday.
The updated Active Taxpayers List (ATL), issued by the FBR, includes individuals and entities who filed their income tax returns for 2024 by September 14, 2025, and paid the required default surcharge for inclusion. The new data shows that 7.92 million taxpayers have already secured their position in the ATL. With fewer than 80,000 more returns needed, the FBR is confident it can cross the dream mark within the next couple of weeks or before the filing deadline for tax year 2025 expires.
Last year, the FBR introduced a more active system for issuing the ATL, allowing daily updates instead of the previous annual method. Under this mechanism, the ATL for 2025 will officially be published on October 1, 2025, following the September 30 filing deadline. Until then, the ATL for 2024 will remain valid for legal and administrative purposes.
Being included in the list of active taxpayers carries significant benefits. Those on the ATL are entitled to reduced rates of withholding tax and other advantages under the law, while individuals with taxable income who fail to appear on the list face stricter penalties and higher deductions. This makes compliance more attractive and encourages broadening of the tax base.