Hyderabad is Sindh's second city and, in some ways, its most layered. It is known for glass bangles made in small workshops around the old city, for the fort at its centre, for markets in Latifabad, Qasimabad, Saddar and Hirabad, and for the industrial area at Kotri across the Indus. Sindh's largest university and a medical university sit nearby at Jamshoro, and the city's rice, fruit and textile trades give it a strong commercial base.
That mix produces very different filers. A bangle workshop owner earns from piece sales; a Kotri factory manager draws a salary and bonuses; a Latifabad shopkeeper lives on margins; a Jamshoro lecturer has a salary and some private tuition. Each has the same annual obligation but a different set of papers. Returns are filed online through IRIS, and NTNWaale prepares and submits them remotely over WhatsApp, without anyone having to visit a tax office in Hyderabad or Karachi.
Who in Hyderabad Has to File
The people who send us returns from Hyderabad and its neighbouring areas include:
- Owners of glass-bangle workshops and the traders and exporters who sell their output
- Managers, owners and contractors in the Kotri and Hyderabad industrial areas
- Traders and shopkeepers in Latifabad, Qasimabad, Saddar, Hirabad and the old-city markets
- Rice, fruit, cloth and general-goods wholesalers
- Faculty, researchers and staff at Jamshoro's universities and the associated hospitals
- Doctors, lawyers, architects and consultants in private practice
- Landlords and families with rent, shops and land alongside business income
- Transporters and small carriers on the Hyderabad–Karachi and Hyderabad–Sukkur roads
A Bangle Workshop's Year on Paper
Hyderabad's glass-bangle industry is a family craft on a large scale. Raw glass is melted, drawn, cut, joined and decorated by different workers, some in workshops and some at home, and finished bangles go to wholesalers and on to markets across Pakistan. Much of the pay is by the piece, and many transactions are in cash.
For the return, a workshop owner needs total sales, what was paid for glass, fuel, decorating materials and labour, and what was spent on rent and electricity. Piece-rate pay to workers is a legitimate cost, but it should be recorded: a note of how many pieces each worker made and what they were paid is enough. A workshop that has always paid in cash can build a reasonable record by starting a simple weekly list today.
Kotri and the Industrial Belt
The industrial area at Kotri and the units around Hyderabad employ managers, engineers, accountants and skilled workers, and rely on a chain of contractors. A manager or engineer on a salary has a straightforward return based on the salary certificate and the tax already deducted. A contractor supplying labour, transport or services has business income, with customers who deduct tax and give a slip.
Those slips are worth keeping. They are credits against the tax owed, and only a filed return claims them. An owner of a small unit files a business return showing sales, costs and profit, with year-end stock and a list of machinery. Our guide to withholding tax on contracts explains the deductions.
Traders, Wholesalers and Latifabad's Shops
Hyderabad's markets serve a wide area of central Sindh, and their traders buy from Karachi, Faisalabad and Lahore. A shopkeeper's return is simple in principle: sales, less purchases, less running costs. What complicates it is that many small shops do not record daily sales. A month-by-month estimate based on stock bought and margins earned, together with supplier bills, is usually enough to prepare a defensible return.
Wholesalers who deal in rice, fruit or cloth also carry stock and extend credit, which belongs on the wealth statement as an asset when customers owe money. Our overview of tax for small businesses explains what is normally deductible.
Jamshoro Faculty and Medical Staff
The universities and teaching hospitals at Jamshoro employ a large salaried professional group. Their salary certificates carry the tax already deducted, which is the starting point of the return. Many also earn from private clinics, tutoring or consultancy, and that income has to be declared alongside the salary.
Doctors with a private practice and lecturers who run coaching classes have both sides of the return to prepare, and the separate income needs its own records. Our tax guide for doctors and tax guide for teachers explain how the two streams combine.
Wealth Statement and Property
The wealth statement lists what you own and owe on 30 June: plots and houses in the city's schemes, shops, vehicles, stock, bank balances and loans. Property in Hyderabad and the surrounding towns changes hands for large sums, and both buying and selling carry withholding that depends on filer status. A wealth statement that explains increases in assets through income, sales or loans is the best protection against a notice. Our guide to the wealth statement explains how to list assets.
The Filing Calendar
Individuals file for the tax year that ends on 30 June, and the return is normally due by 30 September, unless FBR announces an extension. After the date, you are off the Active Taxpayer List until you file, and the higher rates apply to your banking and property dealings in the meantime, with a possible late-filing penalty on top. Our deadline guide covers the current position.
The Papers We Ask For
- Your CNIC and NTN
- A salary certificate or tax-deduction statement if you are employed
- For a business: sales notes, supplier bills and any deduction slips from customers
- Rent, wages and utility records
- A year of bank statements
- Papers for property or vehicles bought or sold, and a note of assets on 30 June
How We Work and What It Costs
Send your papers on WhatsApp; we prepare the return and wealth statement, show you the figures and file on IRIS after you approve. Simple salaried returns take a couple of days; business returns with stock and property take longer while we reconcile. A salaried return starts at PKR 3,000, a sole proprietor or trader return at PKR 4,500 and a partnership return at PKR 7,500. The pricing page lists the fixed schedule.
Frequent Hyderabad Slips
- Paying workers in cash without a record. A weekly note of pieces and pay makes labour a documented cost.
- Losing deduction slips from customers. They are credits worth claiming.
- Estimating shop sales from memory. A monthly estimate backed by supplier bills is much safer.
- Leaving out private practice income. Salary and clinic income are separate and both belong on the return.
- Filing in the last week. Records take days to reconcile.
Rice, Fruit and Cloth Wholesalers
Wholesalers in the old markets handle large volumes of rice, seasonal fruit and cloth. Their profit depends on timing, and their return needs a clear closing stock and a list of amounts owed to and by them. A wholesaler who sells on credit and has money outstanding at year end should list it in the wealth statement.
Transporters and Small Carriers
Trucks, pick-ups and loaders on the roads to Karachi and Sukkur are owned by individuals and small firms. The return shows income from freight less fuel, driver pay, repairs and instalments' interest. A trip log and a running-cost list are all that is needed.
Mango and Fruit Season Income
Sindh's orchards send mangoes and other fruit through Hyderabad's markets every summer, and traders, packers and transporters earn most of their year in a few weeks. A trader's return has to capture a season's sales and purchases cleanly, and a seasonal business should note both the season's peak and the quiet months so the year's figures are complete. Growing fruit on your own land is agricultural income; trading it is not.
Rents in the Old City and the Newer Areas
Hyderabad has a large rental market, from old-city shops and upper floors to apartments and offices in Latifabad and Qasimabad. Landlords earn rent that is taxable and must be reported, whether the tenant is a family or a company. A rent register listing each tenant, the monthly amount and the months received makes the return simple, and it helps if a tenant company deducts tax from the rent and gives a slip.
Young Professionals and Freelancers
Hyderabad has a stream of graduates from Jamshoro's universities who work online, tutor or start small ventures. Their income comes through wallets and transfers, and the return is easy if it is recorded from the start. Our freelancer tax guide explains how such earnings are treated.
Families With Members Abroad
Many households in the region have a relative working abroad. Money sent home is not itself earned income, but it often funds property and businesses that produce income, and it explains where assets came from in the wealth statement. Keep the transfer records with the papers for the assets they paid for. Our remittance guide explains the treatment.
Glass, Fuel and What a Bangle Workshop Can Deduct
A bangle workshop's main costs are glass, gas or other fuel, decorating materials and labour. Each is a legitimate deduction, but each needs a bill or a note. Where fuel is bought in cash without a receipt, a monthly estimate based on usage is better than nothing, though a bill is always safer. Keep the numbers consistent from one year to the next, since sudden changes attract attention.
Kotri Commuters and Their Vehicles
Many people who work at Kotri live in Hyderabad and commute daily, often by their own motorcycle or car. A vehicle bought in the year belongs in the wealth statement at its cost, with a visible source of funds, and one bought earlier carries forward. A salaried commuter's return is simple, but the vehicle must not be forgotten.
Traders Around the Fort and Old Markets
The markets around the old fort hold some of Hyderabad's most established family shops. A return for one of them shows sales and purchases for the year, with a year-end stock count, and lists the shop premises, whether owned or rented, in the wealth statement or the expenses as appropriate. A ledger kept by a father and continued by a son is a perfectly good source; it simply needs to be totalled.
Send Bank Statements Early
Bank statements are the single item that takes longest to arrive. Request twelve months of statements for every account early in September, so they are in hand before we start. The return is quick once they are.
File From Hyderabad
Send your CNIC, NTN and whatever papers you have to 0324-0400564 on WhatsApp. If you have not registered, start with our registration guide; for a general walk-through, see how to file an income tax return in Pakistan.