Income Tax Ordinance, 2001 has defined the meaning of ‘foreign source of income’ derived by Pakistani individual by working or giving services abroad.
Income Tax Ordinance, 2001 updated up to June 30, 2020 issued by the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) stated that an amount shall be foreign-source income to the extent to which it is not Pakistan-source income.
The Ordinance further explained as:
Any foreign-source salary received by a resident individual shall be exempt from tax if the individual has paid foreign income tax in respect of the salary.
A resident individual shall be treated as having paid foreign income tax in respect of foreign-source salary if tax has been withheld from the salary by the individual’s employer and paid to the revenue authority of the foreign country in which the employment was exercised.
It explains:
Where a resident taxpayer derives foreign source income chargeable to tax under this Ordinance in respect of which the taxpayer has paid foreign income tax, the taxpayer shall be allowed a tax credit of an amount equal to the lesser of –
(a) the foreign income tax paid; or
(b) the Pakistan tax payable in respect of the income.
(2) For the purposes of clause (b) of sub-section (1), the Pakistan tax payable in respect of foreign source income derived by a taxpayer in a tax year shall be computed by applying the average rate of Pakistan income tax applicable to the taxpayer for the year against the taxpayer’s net foreign-source income for the year.
(3) Where, in a tax year, a taxpayer has foreign income under more than one head of income, this section shall apply separately to each head of income.
(4) For the purposes of sub-section (3), income derived by a taxpayer from carrying on a speculation business shall be treated as a separate head of income.
(5) The tax credit allowed under this section shall be applied in accordance with sub-section (3) of section 4.
(6) Any tax credit or part of a tax credit allowed under this section for a tax year that is not credited under sub-section (3) of section 4 shall not be refunded, carried back to the preceding tax year, or carried forward to the following tax year.
(7) A credit shall be allowed under this section only if the foreign income tax is paid within two years after the end of the tax year in which the foreign income to which the tax relates was derived by the resident taxpayer.
(8) In this section,—
“average rate of Pakistan income tax” in relation to a taxpayer for a tax year, means the percentage that the Pakistani income tax (before allowance of the tax credit under this section) is of the taxable income of the taxpayer for the year;
“foreign income tax” includes a foreign withholding tax; and
“net foreign-source income” in relation to a taxpayer for a tax year, means the total foreign-source income of the taxpayer charged to tax in the year, as reduced by any deductions allowed to the taxpayer under this Ordinance for the year that –
(a) relate exclusively to the derivation of the foreign-source income; and
(b) are reasonably related to the derivation of foreign-source income in accordance with sub-section (1) of section 67 and any rules made for the purposes of that section.
