Photo: W.carter / Wikimedia Commons ↗, CC BY-SA 4.0 ↗

ISLAMABAD, September 25, 2026 — The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has set a special procedure for taxing income from YouTube, Facebook, TikTok, Instagram and other social media platforms. Under the new rules, FBR counts at least Rs195 of income for every 1,000 YouTube views unless a creator can prove they earned less. The rules came in three notifications (SROs) dated September 23, 2026, according to Business Recorder, Profit and TaxationPk, which quote them.

The three notifications

  • SRO 1640(I)/2026 names “Persons Earning Income from Remunerative Social Media Content” as a sector under section 99C of the Income Tax Ordinance, 2001. Section 99C allows a special tax procedure for a named sector.
  • SRO 1641(I)/2026 adds Chapter-IIA to the Income Tax Rules, 2002. It covers every resident person earning from “interaction with users in Pakistan through social media platforms”.
  • SRO 1642(I)/2026 adds Chapter-VA for non-residents whose earnings from users in Pakistan count as Pakistan-source income. It applies above a threshold of “more than 50,000 users during a tax year or 12,250 users during a quarter”, Profit reported.

How FBR will work out your income

The rules set a floor, not a new tax rate. Your normal income tax rate then applies to the result. As the notifications are reported:

  • Remuneration is the higher of two amounts: Rs195 × total views ÷ 1,000, or the “actual remuneration received from the social media content, whether in cash or in kind”. Payment in kind, such as products from brands, therefore counts.
  • Rs195 per 1,000 views is defined as revenue per 1,000 views “on a video shared on YouTube”. FBR may revise it “from time to time”.
  • Expenses are deducted, but only up to 30% of total revenue.
  • Proof: if your real earnings were lower than the formula, you must show evidence “to the satisfaction of the Commissioner”.
  • Advance tax is payable every quarter under section 147.
  • Return: the income goes in a special part of the annual income tax return. If you declare less than the formula, the Commissioner may amend the return and recover the difference.

For example, a channel with 1 million YouTube views in a tax year would start from Rs195,000 of remuneration. After the maximum 30% expense deduction, its minimum income would be Rs136,500. This is our arithmetic, not an FBR example.

FBR first published the rules as a draft, SRO 546(I)/2026, on April 1, 2026. The draft already set Rs195 per 1,000 YouTube views and the 30% cap. It counted views as the average views per post times the number of posts; the final rules, as reported, use total views.

What is still unclear

The reports do not say how views on platforms other than YouTube are counted, since the Rs195 rate is defined for YouTube. They also cite no start date beyond the notification date. We could not open the final SROs on FBR’s website on September 28, 2026; this report relies on the published draft and on outlets quoting the final text.

What changed

  • Before: Social media income was taxable under the general rules, with no set method for working it out. FBR’s April 1, 2026 draft proposed a formula.
  • Now: Income is the higher of Rs195 per 1,000 YouTube views or actual earnings, less expenses of up to 30%, with quarterly advance tax and a separate part of the return.
  • Effective: SROs 1640–1642 of 2026 are dated September 23, 2026. No separate start date has been reported.

What this means for you If you earn from social media, keep platform statements, brand contracts and records of gifts, and match each payment to a credit in your bank account or wallet. That is the evidence you would need if your earnings were below the formula. See how money reaches Pakistani accounts from abroad and our wallet guide.