Asia Common Law
English language engineering back offices, Pakistan
Pakistan has 240M people, English administrative language across SECP, FBR, and courts, and a common law system inherited from the UK. Karachi, Lahore, and Islamabad host growing engineering talent pools at significantly lower costs than India or the Philippines.
English filingsCommon lawEngineering talent
Start setup {placement} 4 min · no card required
Corp tax
29%
Fastest setup
4 weeks
Tax treaties
68
Region
Asia
What you'll need
- No resident director required
- Local registered office required
- Economic-substance test applies
- Minimum capital: No minimum capital
- Administrative language: English and Urdu
- Legal system: Common law
Tax and treaty profile
- Corporate tax 29%
- Effective rate ~39%
- Tax treaties 68
- VAT rate 18%
- Withholding on dividends 15%
Key treaty partners
United KingdomUnited StatesChinaUnited Arab EmiratesSaudi ArabiaGermany
Banking and payments
- Banking takes 2 to 4 weeks with KYC
- Stripe not supported
Considerations
If you need Stripe, Wise, or Mercury
Stripe, Mercury, and Wise do not support PKR business accounts, and SBP foreign exchange repatriation requires bank approvals with supporting documentation. Most tech founders pair a Pakistani operating company with a Delaware or Singapore parent for international receipts.
No Stripe/Mercury PKRSBP FX approvalsDual entity structuring