Free · no account
Check an NTN on FBR's Active Taxpayer List
Type a 7-digit NTN or a 13-digit CNIC. You get back whether that person is currently on the sales tax Active Taxpayer List, the name FBR holds against them, and the date this copy of the list was refreshed.
Why the status matters
Every electronic invoice has to declare whether the buyer is registered for sales tax. It is not an optional field and it is not a guess: FBR checks it against this list on submission. Get it wrong and the invoice comes back rejected.
The rejection is worse than it needs to be. Declaring an unregistered buyer as registered returns error 0205, "Provided scenario not valid for unregistered user", which points at the test scenario rather than at the buyer. People lose afternoons to that message. Checking the number first avoids the whole thing.
Status also changes. A buyer active in March may be inactive by September, and nobody tells you. If you invoice the same company regularly, it is worth re-checking.
What this tool does not do
It does not return an address. No FBR source publishes one, so any tool that shows you an address got it somewhere else. It does not search by company name, because that would amount to republishing FBR's register.
It is also not live. FBR publishes the list as a file rather than a lookup service, and this copy refreshes on Sundays and Mondays. Every answer prints its own refresh date so you can judge how much to trust it. For anything that turns on the answer, check FBR's portal as well.
And it is not an FBR service. Linksoft is a Karachi software house. This is built on data FBR publishes openly, with no affiliation to FBR or PRAL.
Free FBR digital invoicing
Checking a number is the easy part
The hard part is clearing FBR's sandbox test scenarios before you are allowed to issue a real invoice. Our free app works out which ones apply to your business activity and sector, fills them in, and submits them for you. Five accepted invoices a month, no card.
Common questions
What is the Active Taxpayer List?
A register FBR publishes of persons currently active for sales tax. It matters on an invoice because buying from someone who is not on it changes what you can claim, and because the digital invoicing API rejects an invoice that declares a buyer as registered when they are not.
Why does the buyer's ATL status matter on an invoice?
Buyer registration type is a mandatory field on every electronic invoice. Declare a buyer as Registered when FBR does not agree and the submission comes back as error 0205, whose message blames the scenario rather than the buyer — one of the more misleading rejections in the whole API.
How current is this data?
It mirrors the sales tax Active Taxpayer List that FBR publishes at e.fbr.gov.pk, refreshed every Sunday and Monday. Each result prints the date its row was last refreshed, so you can see the age of the answer rather than assume it is live. For anything consequential, check FBR's own portal too.
Why can I search by number but not by name?
A public name search over 197,283 taxpayers is a bulk download with extra steps, and this data belongs to FBR rather than to us. Name search and typeahead are in the free invoicing app, where there is an account behind each request.
Is this an official FBR service?
No. It is a free tool from Linksoft, a Karachi software house, built on the list FBR publishes openly. Neither FBR nor PRAL has any involvement in it, and neither has given it any endorsement. FBR's own verification remains the authority.
Do I need an account?
No. This page needs nothing from you but a number. The free invoicing app it links to does need an account, because it holds your FBR token and your invoice records.
Need more than five invoices a month?
Message us and we will raise your limit. If you would rather have invoicing inside a system that also runs your production, stock and ledgers, that is what we build.