How does a doctor or lawyer claim credit for tax deducted by several hospitals or clients?

A consultant who visits three hospitals, or a lawyer on retainer with several companies, can end the year with a stack of deduction certificates. The Income Tax Ordinance links them to your return through three sections: section 164 makes each payer document the deduction, section 168 turns it into income and a credit, and section 114 requires the return to state it.

What does the law say?

Section 164: the payer’s certificate. Section 164(1) requires every person deducting tax from a payment under Division III (which includes section 153) to give the person paid, at the time of deduction, copies of the Computerized Payment Receipt (CPR) or equivalent document along with “a certificate setting out the amount of tax collected or deducted and such other particulars as may” be prescribed. Section 164(2) requires a person filing a return to attach copies of the CPR or SWAPS Payment Receipt on which each certificate is based.

Section 168: income and credit. Section 168(1)(a) says the tax deducted from a payment “shall be treated as income derived by the person to whom the payment was made”. Section 168(1)(b) treats it as tax paid by you. Section 168(2) gives a tax credit for it “for the tax year in which the tax was collected or deducted”.

Section 114: the return. Section 114(2)(a) and (b) say a return is in the prescribed form, with the prescribed annexures, and “shall fully state all the relevant particulars or information as specified in the form of return”.

The rate being credited. For tax year 2027 the First Schedule, Part III, Division III, paragraph (2)(ii) sets 15% for independent professional services. Under section 153(3) that tax is minimum tax on the amount it was deducted from.

How does it work in practice?

1. Collect a certificate for every deduction. Match each certificate to the payer, the gross amount, the tax and the CPR.
2. Add up gross fees, not net receipts. Section 168(1)(a) puts the deducted tax back into income. Your bank shows net receipts, so the return figure will be higher.
3. Keep the year straight. The credit goes to the tax year of deduction under section 168(2). Tax year 2027 runs from 1 July 2026 to 30 June 2027.
4. Claim the total as a credit. The combined deductions reduce the tax due. Because the tax is minimum tax, the total deducted is also the least tax on those fees.
5. Attach the receipts. Section 164(2) asks for copies of the CPR or SPR with the return.

Worked example (illustrative figures)

Dr. Sana is a gynaecologist in Islamabad, on the Active Taxpayers List. In tax year 2027 she consults at three private hospitals, all companies, as a visiting consultant and not as an employee.

Hospital	Gross fees	Tax at 15%	Net received
Hospital A	Rs. 1,800,000	Rs. 270,000	Rs. 1,530,000
Hospital B	Rs. 900,000	Rs. 135,000	Rs. 765,000
Hospital C	Rs. 600,000	Rs. 90,000	Rs. 510,000
Total	Rs. 3,300,000	Rs. 495,000	Rs. 2,805,000

Check: Rs. 3,300,000 - Rs. 495,000 = Rs. 2,805,000.

• Income from the hospitals in her return: Rs. 3,300,000, not the Rs. 2,805,000 she received.
• Tax credit under section 168: Rs. 495,000.
• Minimum tax on those fees under section 153(3): Rs. 495,000.

If her normal tax on total income is more than Rs. 495,000, she pays the difference with the return. If it is less, the Rs. 495,000 stays as her tax on the hospital fees.

What if …?

A certificate shows the wrong amount. Section 164 puts the duty to issue a correct certificate on the payer. The Ordinance does not give the professional a separate correction procedure, so the practical route is to ask the payer to correct its record.

A client deducted at 30%. That is the doubled rate for a person not on the Active Taxpayers List. The full amount deducted is still credited under section 168. How much of the extra can be adjusted is dealt with on the separate page about the ATL.

Fees were received from individuals with no deduction. Those fees are still income and go in the return. There is simply no credit to claim against them.

Common mistakes

• Declaring net receipts. This understates income by exactly the tax deducted and conflicts with the payers’ own statements.
• Claiming a credit in the wrong year. Section 168(2) ties the credit to the year of deduction, not the year of the work or the year the invoice was raised.
• Leaving out a small certificate. Every deduction is income and a credit. Omitting one understates both.
• Mixing salary and fees. If a hospital employs you, tax on your salary is not a section 153 deduction and has its own certificate and rules.

What to check in the official text

Read sections 164 and 168 in full, section 114(2) on what a return contains, and section 153(3) on minimum tax. Confirm the tax year 2027 rate in the First Schedule, Part III, Division III, paragraph (2). The prescribed particulars of the certificate are set by rules and forms, and the FBR portal steps for entering credits are not covered in this corpus.