Do I have to declare my foreign bank accounts and property abroad in a Pakistani wealth statement?

A resident individual who files a return in Pakistan must show foreign assets and liabilities in the wealth statement. The Income Tax Ordinance, 2001 has said so expressly since the Finance Act, 2024 added the words “including foreign assets” to section 116. A second statement under section 116A applies above two dollar thresholds. This page reads the Ordinance as amended to 30 June 2026.

What does the law say?

Section 116(2) requires every resident taxpayer being an individual who files a return for a tax year to furnish a wealth statement and wealth reconciliation statement with that return. Members of an association of persons also file one with the association’s return.

Section 116(1) describes the contents. The statement gives the person’s total “assets including foreign assets and liabilities including foreign liabilities”, the same for a spouse (only if dependent), minor children and other dependents, assets including foreign assets transferred to others and the consideration, total expenditure, and the reconciliation of wealth. Section 116(1) also lets the Commissioner require any individual to furnish a wealth statement by written notice.

Section 116A(1) adds a separate foreign income and assets statement for a resident individual who has either:

Test	Threshold in section 116A(1)
Foreign income	not less than ten thousand United States dollars
Foreign assets	value not less than one hundred thousand United States dollars

That statement gives foreign assets and liabilities as on the last day of the tax year, foreign assets transferred during the year with the consideration, and particulars of foreign income and the expenditure wholly and necessarily incurred to earn it. Under section 116A(2), the Commissioner can issue a written notice, with recorded reasons, to anyone who should have filed it but did not.

Why does residence matter?

Section 11(5) computes a resident person’s income from both Pakistan-source and foreign-source amounts. Section 11(6) limits a non-resident to Pakistan-source income only. The automatic duties in sections 116(2) and 116A(1) are both written for resident individuals. A non-resident who files a return is not named in either, although the Commissioner’s notice power in section 116(1) covers any individual.

What if a foreign asset is not declared?

Section 111(1) applies where a person owns money, an investment or a valuable article and offers no explanation of its nature and source, or an explanation the Commissioner does not find satisfactory. The unexplained amount is added to income under the head Income from Other Sources.

For assets outside Pakistan, section 111(2)(ii) includes the amount in the tax year immediately preceding the year in which the asset is discovered by the Commissioner. Section 111(2A) defines the year of discovery as the year in which the Commissioner issues a notice asking the person to explain the source. The Explanation to section 111(2) says that an explanation based on sources from the year the asset was actually acquired will not be rejected merely because those sources do not belong to the year of inclusion.

Worked example (illustrative figures)

Farah worked in Manchester for eight years and returned to Islamabad. She is resident for tax year 2027 and files a return. She owns a flat in Manchester worth USD 150,000 and a UK savings account.

1. Section 116(2): she files a wealth statement with her return. Under section 116(1)(a), the Manchester flat and the UK account are listed with her Pakistani assets.
2. Section 116A(1): her foreign assets of USD 150,000 are above the USD 100,000 threshold, so she also files the foreign income and assets statement, even if her foreign income is below USD 10,000.

Now suppose she had left out a separate account in Dubai holding Rs. 8,000,000. In tax year 2029 the Commissioner issues a notice asking her to explain it.

1. Year of discovery under section 111(2A): tax year 2029.
2. Year of inclusion under section 111(2)(ii): the immediately preceding year, tax year 2028.
3. If she cannot satisfactorily explain the source, Rs. 8,000,000 is added to her tax year 2028 income under Income from Other Sources.

Common mistakes

• Leaving foreign assets out because the income was earned abroad. Section 116(1) asks for foreign assets whatever their source.
• Assuming the wealth statement replaces section 116A. They are separate statements with separate triggers.
• Converting at a guessed rate. Section 116A states its thresholds in US dollars. The Ordinance text read here does not state a conversion method; check the prescribed form.

What to check in the official text

Read sections 116 and 116A, including the prescribed forms referred to in both, and section 111 in full, including sub-section (4) on remittances. Penalties for not filing these statements are not covered on this page. The FBR return forms and portal steps are outside this corpus.