How to check whether you are on the Active Taxpayers List

There are three ways to check whether you are on the Active Taxpayers List, and all of them are free. The list is the FBR's published record of who has filed on time, and it is what banks, registrars and excise offices check before applying a rate to your transaction.

By SMS, the fastest way

Type ATL, then a space, then your thirteen-digit CNIC number with no dashes, and send it to 9966.

The reply comes back within a few seconds and tells you whether your status is active for the current tax year. For a company or an AOP, send the NTN in place of the CNIC.

This works on any network and needs no internet connection, which is why it is the method most people use.

On the FBR website

The FBR publishes an online Active Taxpayer List search. Enter your CNIC or NTN and the date you want to check, and it returns your status as at that date.

Checking against a specific date matters when a transaction has already happened. What counts is your status on the day the registrar or the bank applied the rate, not your status today.

The downloadable list

The FBR also publishes the full list as a downloadable file, updated weekly. It is useful for a business checking many suppliers at once, for example before claiming input tax or before deducting withholding at the filer rate.

You filed but you are not on the list

This is the most common complaint, and there are three usual causes.

The list updates once a week, every Monday. A return filed on a Wednesday will not appear until the following Monday.

The return was filed after the deadline. A late return does not restore your ATL status by itself. You must also pay the surcharge under section 182A, and only then does the name appear.

The return was submitted but never actually filed. IRIS keeps a draft until you complete the submission, and a draft looks complete on screen while doing nothing at all.

Checking someone else before you pay them

If you are a business making a payment, the payee's status decides the rate you must withhold. Deducting at the filer rate for someone who was not on the list makes you liable for the difference under section 161, so the check is worth doing on the day of payment, not from memory.