How to register an online business in Pakistan (2026)

The order that makes sense

Most guides to registering a business in Pakistan list every option at once: SECP, the Registrar of Firms, chambers of commerce, trademarks. A small seller does not need all of it, and not on day one. This is the order it actually comes up when you sell online on cash on delivery:

1. An NTN in your own name on FBR’s IRIS portal. No fee listed by FBR, and done online.
2. A bank account for the business money, kept apart from your personal spending.
3. Sales tax registration, only if your kind of business falls in FBR’s list.
4. A partnership firm or a company, only if you have partners or a reason to separate the business from yourself.
5. A trademark for your brand name, once you are sure the name is staying.

Every fee and rule below is from an official page we fetched, as of October 2026. Where a page does not give a number, we say so and tell you where to check.

Before your first sale

You can build your store, photograph your products and set your prices without any paperwork. Nothing about a product page needs a registration number.

The paperwork starts with the parcel. Since the Finance Act 2025, the law expects online sellers to be registered for income tax. FBR’s Income Tax Circular 01 of 2025–26 says every seller selling through an online marketplace or their own e-store “has been required under the law to get itself registered in income tax”, and that marketplaces and couriers “are also now barred to offer their services to any unregistered sellers”.

So the practical answer: get your NTN before you open a courier COD account or a Daraz seller account. FBR lists no fee for it, and a courier that follows the circular will ask for it. Some couriers’ sign-up pages still ask only for a CNIC. Get the NTN anyway.

Step 1: NTN as a sole proprietor

A sole proprietor is simply you, doing business in your own name or under a brand name. There is no separate certificate to apply for. Your FBR registration is the registration.

FBR’s registration basics say a person is treated as registered once e-enrolled on the IRIS portal, and that for an individual the 13-digit CNIC number is the NTN. FBR’s registration process page says online registration is only for individuals, not partnerships or companies, and lists what you need before you start:

• A phone with a SIM registered on your own CNIC.
• A personal email address that belongs to you.
• A scanned certificate of maintenance of a personal bank account in your own name.
• If you have business premises: proof of tenancy or ownership.
• If you have business premises: a paid utility bill not older than three months.

Note the bank certificate. Your bank gives it on request, and you need it before IRIS will take your form, so ask for it first. FBR’s pages list no fee for an individual’s registration. Ignore anyone charging to “make your NTN” unless you want them to do the typing for you.

Registration and filing are two different things. An NTN does not put you on the Active Taxpayers List. For that you file an income tax return each year. The full IRIS walkthrough, filer status and what to ask a tax adviser are in our Urdu guide, NTN kaise banayein.

Step 2: a separate bank account

Courier COD payouts land in a bank account. If that is the account you also pay your electricity bill and buy groceries from, you will not know your real profit, and your tax return becomes guesswork.

Open a second account just for the business, or a business account if your bank offers one for a sole proprietor. What a bank asks for varies by bank and account type, so ask your branch which papers they want. Give the courier this account for COD payouts, and pay suppliers and ads from it.

If you also want to take JazzCash or Easypaisa transfers from buyers, our guide on a JazzCash business account covers the merchant options.

The 2% couriers deduct on COD

This is the part most “how to register” guides skip, and it changes your pricing. The Finance Act 2025 added section 6A to the Income Tax Ordinance for online sales. FBR’s Circular 01 of 2025–26 explains how it works:

• Every payment received for goods ordered through an online marketplace or website is taxed.
• On cash on delivery, the courier collects 2% of the gross amount when it sends your COD money to you.
• On online payments, the bank or payment gateway collects 1%.
• The tax is collected in each seller’s name, and couriers file statements with every seller’s transactions.
• Under the circular, the tax collected is a final tax on the seller’s income from local e-commerce.

Then the Finance Act 2026 added sub-section (3) to section 6A. If your turnover in a tax year is above Rs 200 million, this tax is adjustable, not final. If it is up to Rs 200 million, you may opt out of the final tax regime when you file your return for tax year 2027 onwards. Which is better depends on your actual profit, and that is a question for a tax adviser, not a blog. The rates if you are not on the Active Taxpayers List, and how sales tax fits in, are in online business tax in Pakistan.

For pricing, treat the 2% as a cost on every delivered COD order, like the courier’s own charge. On a Rs 3,000 order that is Rs 60. Put it into the COD profit calculator with your delivery and return costs, and see how it fits into your margin in how to price products.

Step 3: sales tax, if it applies

Sales tax registration gives you a Sales Tax Registration Number (STRN). It is separate from your NTN. FBR’s sales tax basics say only people with active IRIS credentials can register for sales tax, so the NTN always comes first.

FBR’s list of persons to be registered includes:

• All importers.
• All wholesalers, dealers and distributors.
• Manufacturers not in the cottage industry. FBR defines cottage industry as annual taxable turnover up to Rs 10 million, or annual electricity, gas and telephone bills up to Rs 800,000.
• Tier-1 retailers, which FBR defines as chain store units, shops in air-conditioned malls and plazas (not kiosks), retailers whose electricity bill over the last twelve months is above Rs 600,000, and wholesaler-cum-retailers.

A seller working from home who buys stock locally and sells online is usually none of these. You are in the list if you import stock yourself, sell wholesale, or manufacture above the cottage industry limit.

The e-commerce rules add one more layer. FBR’s Sales Tax Circular 02 of 2025–26 makes couriers responsible for sales tax on COD orders of taxable goods. For cottage industry and retailers other than tier-1, the tax the courier collects is treated as their full sales tax liability, with no input tax. Everyone else stays in the normal regime and adjusts the tax withheld in their return. The circular gives no rate, so if you think you are in the list, speak to a tax adviser before you register.

To see what a sales tax figure does to a price, try the sales tax calculator.

Sole proprietor, partnership or company

The question people mean when they search “business registration in Pakistan” is often this one. For most online sellers the answer is: stay a sole proprietor until you have a reason not to.

Partnership firm

If you sell with a sister, a friend or a cousin, write a partnership deed first: who puts in what, how profit is split, and what happens if someone leaves. Registering the firm is provincial. In Punjab, the district industries office in Multan lists Form-I through the Punjab business registration portal, a Rs 2,000 fee, and a deed on Rs 1,000 stamp paper. In Islamabad, the ICT Administration lists a Rs 1,000 fee at NBP, a deed on Rs 1,000 stamp paper, notarised papers, an office in a commercial area, and all partners appearing before the Registrar of Firms. FBR’s registration page says a firm’s NTN is done at a tax office facilitation counter, not online. Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan have their own processes: ask the provincial industries department.

Single member company or private limited

SECP’s incorporation FAQs describe a single member company (SMC) as a company formed by one person, with a nominee director who must be a spouse, parent, sibling or child. A private limited company has two to 50 members. Online, you sign up on SECP’s eZfile, fill the name reservation and incorporation form (the memorandum and articles are generated for you), attach CNICs and pay. SECP says there is no minimum authorised capital, but the minimum fee is charged as if it were Rs 100,000. The exact fee depends on your capital and changes from time to time, so check SECP’s incorporation fee calculator before you apply.

A company brings yearly filings with SECP on top of your tax returns. The step-by-step eZfile process, name rules and what a company owes each year are in our Urdu guide, company register kaise karein.

Step 4: trademark your brand name

Registering with FBR or SECP does not stop someone else using your brand name. A trademark at the Intellectual Property Organization (IPO) does. IPO’s fee and forms page lists, as of October 2026:

• Search, TM-55: Rs 1,000 per class. Optional, but worth it before you pay to apply.
• Application, TM-1: Rs 3,000 for one class.
• Registration, TM-11: Rs 9,000, paid after the application is accepted.
• Renewal, TM-12: Rs 15,000.

Each class of goods is a separate application and a separate fee, so clothing and cosmetics under one name means two. Do this once the name has proved itself, not in your first week. Classes, the online filing portal and how long each stage takes are in brand name register kaise karein.

The short checklist

• This week: ask your bank for an account maintenance certificate, then register on IRIS. Your CNIC is now your NTN.
• Before your first courier booking: open the courier COD account with your NTN, and point payouts to a separate account.
• When you price: add the 2% COD deduction to your costs.
• Every year: file your income tax return, and ask an adviser once whether the final tax regime suits you.
• Only if it applies: sales tax registration, a partnership firm or a company.
• When the name is staying: search and file a trademark at IPO.

Questions sellers ask

Is registration required for an online business in Pakistan?

For income tax, yes. FBR’s Income Tax Circular 01 of 2025–26 says every seller using an online marketplace or their own e-store is required to register for income tax, and that marketplaces and couriers are barred from serving unregistered sellers. For an individual that means an NTN on FBR’s IRIS portal, which is your CNIC number. A company, a partnership firm or a sales tax number is a separate question and depends on your setup.

How do I register a small online business as a sole proprietor?

Register yourself on FBR’s IRIS portal. FBR’s online registration is only for individuals, and it asks for a phone SIM in your own name, your own email, a certificate of your personal bank account, and if you have business premises, proof of the premises and a paid utility bill not older than three months. Your CNIC number becomes your NTN. There is no separate sole proprietor certificate to apply for.

What is the business registration fee in Pakistan?

As of October 2026, FBR’s registration pages list no fee for an individual NTN. A partnership firm costs Rs 2,000 in Punjab and Rs 1,000 in Islamabad, plus a Rs 1,000 stamp paper for the deed, according to those offices’ own pages. A company’s SECP fee depends on its authorised capital: check SECP’s fee calculator. A trademark at IPO is Rs 3,000 to apply and Rs 9,000 to register, per class.

How much tax does the courier deduct on COD?

Under section 6A, which came with the Finance Act 2025, FBR’s Circular 01 of 2025–26 says the courier collects 2% of the gross amount when it sends COD money to the seller. Online payments through a bank or gateway carry 1%. Under the circular this is a final tax on the seller’s e-commerce income. The Finance Act 2026 makes it adjustable above Rs 200 million turnover and lets sellers up to that opt out of the final regime from tax year 2027.

Do I need SECP registration to sell online?

No. FBR’s e-commerce rules ask online sellers to register for income tax, which an individual does with an NTN as a sole proprietor. A single member company through SECP makes sense when you want the business separate from you, are bringing in an investor, or a bank or platform asks for it.

Storelala is the Shopify alternative in Pakistan: your own store at yourbrand.storelala.com, cash on delivery built into checkout, no marketplace commission, and free to start with no card needed. Every order is booked with PostEx, Leopards or TCS from the order screen and keeps its tracking number, so when it is time to match courier payouts and deductions, the orders are in one place. Start your store while your NTN is processing.