The Federal Board of Revenue has moved to bring social media earnings under a dedicated tax framework, signaling that income from platforms such as YouTube and other monetized digital channels is now firmly in its sights.
Social media account holders in Pakistan with at least 50,000 subscribers will now be classified as businesses and required to pay taxes on their earnings, officials said.
Through draft amendments issued under S.R.O. 546(I)/2026 and S.R.O. 545(I)/2026, the FBR has proposed a special procedure for taxation of persons earning income from remunerative social media content, covering both resident and non-resident persons deriving income from user engagement in Pakistan.
The proposed rules define taxable income as total remuneration received from social media content after allowing expenses of up to 30 percent of total revenue.
The tax rules will apply to both residents and non-residents who earn income from viewership, advertisements, or subscriptions generated within Pakistan.
Importantly, the FBR has also introduced a benchmark formula using a fixed revenue per mille of Rs. 195 per 1,000 views on YouTube content, which may be revised from time to time.
Under the draft, creators and digital earners will be required to pay advance income tax on a quarterly basis, while the income must also be declared in a special section of the annual income tax return. If declared earnings are lower than the amount calculated under the formula, the tax commissioner may recover the difference.
For foreign digital earners and non-resident content creators, the FBR has also proposed thresholds for taxation where interaction with users in Pakistan exceeds 50,000 users in a tax year or 12,250 users in a quarter.
The move effectively means that influencers, YouTubers, content creators, and digital platforms earning from Pakistani audiences may now face stricter tax scrutiny as the government expands its focus on the digital economy.