Filing & Compliance · Tax Year 2026-2027
Tax Refund Estimator
Compare everything already withheld and paid during the year against your actual liability — see whether a refund is due or a balance is payable.
Step by step
How the estimate works
Enter your annual taxable income
Your liability is computed on the Tax Year 2026-2027 slabs.
Add up all tax already paid
Salary deductions, other withholding, and advance tax.
Subtract any tax credits
Credits reduce your liability before the comparison.
See your position
Paid more than owed = refund; less = balance payable.
Reading the result
Most refunds come from tax you never noticed paying
Salaried people often assume a refund could only arise from an error on their payslip. Usually it comes from somewhere else entirely: advance tax collected through everyday transactions during the year.
- Electricity bills, where non-filers are charged advance tax above a threshold.
- Mobile recharges and phone bills.
- Bank transactions and profit on savings.
- Vehicle registration and token tax.
- Payments received under contracts, for services, or on exports.
Each of these is adjustable against your annual liability. Added together across a year they are frequently the reason the tax already paid exceeds the tax actually due.
Nothing comes back unless you file
A refund is not issued because you are owed one. It is issued because you filed a return claiming it. Money withheld from someone who never files stays with the exchequer, and there is a statutory limit on how far back a claim can reach, so a return filed several years late may no longer recover it.
Where this stops
This compares two totals you supply. It does not know which deductions are adjustable and which are final — income taxed under a final tax regime is not refundable simply because your slab rate would have been lower. Check the basis of each deduction before counting it.
FAQs
Tax refund FAQs
When am I due a tax refund?
When the total tax withheld and paid on your behalf during the year exceeds your actual annual liability. This is common if tax was over-deducted at source, or if you had withholding on many transactions but a modest total income.
Where do I find the tax already deducted?
Your employer's salary certificate shows salary tax deducted. Other withholding appears on bank certificates, utility bills, vehicle and property documents, and in your FBR IRIS account under the withholding/tax-deducted tab.
How do I actually claim the refund?
File your annual income tax return declaring all income and all tax deducted. If the return shows excess tax paid, you can claim the refund through IRIS — refunds are not issued automatically without filing.
What if I owe a balance instead?
Pay the shortfall with your return before the due date. Paying late attracts default surcharge under Section 205 — see the Default Surcharge Calculator for that cost.
Related tools
Refund already approved but not paid?
FBR owes compensation on delayed refunds under Section 171.
Open Refund Compensation Calculator