Do I need an NTN to sell online, and why does my courier refuse to book parcels without it?

A courier refusing to book your parcels is not a company policy choice. Since the Finance Act, 2025, the Income Tax Ordinance and the Sales Tax Act both put a legal duty on online marketplaces and couriers to deal only with registered sellers. The seller, in turn, is expressly named as someone who must register.

What does the law say?

The seller’s duty. Section 181(1) of the Income Tax Ordinance says every taxpayer, “including a person selling digitally ordered goods or services from within Pakistan using online marketplace or a courier service, as the case may be”, shall apply in the prescribed form and manner for registration. The words about online sellers were added by the Finance Act, 2025.

The marketplace and courier’s duty. Section 181(1A) says every online marketplace or courier service involved in e-commerce “shall not allow any vendor to use its platform services to carry out e-commerce transactions unless such vendors have been registered under this Ordinance”. It covers both goods and services.

The Sales Tax Act rule. Section 14(1A) of the Sales Tax Act requires every person, including a non-resident, selling digitally ordered goods from within Pakistan through an online marketplace, website or software application to apply for sales tax registration. It excludes a person running a cottage industry and retailers who pay sales tax through electricity bills under section 3(9). Section 14(1B) then says an online marketplace or courier supplying digitally ordered goods “shall not allow any person to use their services to carry out e-commerce transactions unless it holds NTN and in case sub-section (1A) of this section applies also holds sales tax registration”.

CNIC as NTN. Section 181(4) says that from tax year 2015 onwards, for individuals with a CNIC issued by NADRA, the CNIC shall be used as the National Tax Number.

How does it work in practice?

Two different registrations can be in play, and the courier may ask for either or both:

What is checked	Law	Who it applies to
Registration under the Income Tax Ordinance (NTN)	Section 181(1) and (1A), Income Tax Ordinance; section 14(1B), Sales Tax Act	Every online seller using a marketplace or courier, goods or services
Sales tax registration	Section 14(1A) and (1B), Sales Tax Act	Sellers of digitally ordered goods, except a cottage industry and retailers paying through electricity bills

A seller of services, such as online tutoring delivered by video, is caught by section 181 of the Ordinance but not by section 14(1A) of the Sales Tax Act, which speaks only of goods. Provincial sales tax registration for services is outside this corpus.

Because the duty sits on the courier and the marketplace, a seller cannot contract out of it. If the courier books parcels for an unregistered vendor, it is the courier that is acting contrary to section 181(1A).

Worked example (illustrative scenario)

Hamza makes handmade leather wallets at home in Sialkot and sells them through his own website. He has not registered for income tax. He tries to book 20 cash on delivery parcels with a courier.

1. Is Hamza an online seller under section 181(1)? He sells digitally ordered goods from within Pakistan and uses a courier service. Section 181(1) names him as a taxpayer who must apply for registration.
2. Can the courier accept his parcels? Section 181(1A) says a courier involved in e-commerce shall not allow any vendor to use its services for e-commerce transactions unless the vendor is registered under the Ordinance. Section 14(1B) of the Sales Tax Act says the courier must not serve him unless he holds an NTN. The courier refuses.
3. Does he also need sales tax registration? That depends on section 14(1A). If his workshop meets the definition of a cottage industry in section 2(5AB) of the Sales Tax Act, section 14(1A) does not apply to him and section 14(1B) asks only for the NTN. If it does not, he also needs sales tax registration before the courier can serve him.
4. What number does he give? He is an individual with a CNIC, so once registered, section 181(4) makes his CNIC his National Tax Number.

What if …?

What if I sell only through a payment gateway, with my own delivery riders? Section 181(1) names sellers using an online marketplace or a courier service, and section 181(1A) binds marketplaces and couriers. A seller using neither is not within those specific words, though section 181(1) still applies to “every taxpayer”.

What if I am a one-off seller? Section 181(1A) and section 14(1B) do not set a minimum number of sales or value. A separate page looks at home-based and one-time sellers.

What if I am a non-resident selling goods into Pakistan? Section 14(1A) of the Sales Tax Act expressly includes a non-resident person selling digitally ordered goods from within Pakistan.

Common mistakes

• Thinking registration is optional below a certain size. Neither section 181 nor section 14(1A) sets a turnover threshold for online sellers.
• Treating the NTN and sales tax registration as the same thing. They come from different laws. Section 14(1B) asks for the NTN in all cases and for sales tax registration only where section 14(1A) applies.
• Assuming a CNIC works without registering. Section 181(4) makes the CNIC the number, but section 181(1) still requires an application for registration.

What to check in the official text

Read section 181(1), (1A) and (4) of the Income Tax Ordinance and section 14(1A) and (1B) of the Sales Tax Act, all as amended to 30 June 2026. The “prescribed form” and “prescribed manner” for registration are set by rules and portal steps not covered on this page. The definition of cottage industry is in section 2(5AB) of the Sales Tax Act.