FBR Asaan Tajir App and Green Plate (2026): How Small Shopkeepers Join the 1% Fixed Tax Scheme and When Digital Invoicing Still Applies
Asaan Tajir app: join FBR's SRO 1166 fixed tax scheme by phone, pay 1% (min Rs 25,000), get the green plate, and when digital invoicing still applies.
What the Asaan Tajir app is, in plain words
This page explains FBR's Asaan Tajir app. It shows who can use it, how to register and pay from a phone, what the green plate does, and the one thing many shopkeepers get wrong: the scheme is an income tax relief, so some businesses still need FBR digital invoicing.
The Asaan Tajir app (also called the Retailer Scheme app) was launched on 19 August 2026 in Islamabad by Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb, Minister of State Bilal Azhar Kayani and FBR Chairman Rashid Mahmood Langrial. It is the phone version of the fixed tax scheme for small shopkeepers notified through SRO 1166(I)/2026 in July 2026. A shop with yearly sales of up to Rs 200 million can join, pay income tax of 1% of sales with a minimum of Rs 25,000 a year, and get an FBR green plate for the shop front. The app is on the Google Play Store, in Urdu at launch, and FBR's chairman said a return can be finished in about eight to ten clicks.
Why this matters for invoicing: the scheme gives relief from routine audit, from POS (point of sale — the FBR-linked billing machine used by large retailers) integration and from digital invoicing requirements. On 9 September 2026 the Chief Commissioner Inland Revenue in Lahore repeated this at the Lahore Chamber, calling the scheme 'One Page, One Return, One Percent'. But the relief sits in the income tax rules. The sales tax rules for digital invoicing are separate, and the last section shows where the line is.
Who can join the fixed tax scheme, and who cannot
You can join if you are an individual retailer (a person running a shop, not a company) and your sales did not go above Rs 200 million in any of the last three years. The scheme is voluntary. You can stay in the normal tax regime if you prefer. If you already file a return, you can still join, as long as your sales stayed under the limit in each of the past three years. For an existing filer the minimum tax is tied to what you paid last year, not the flat Rs 25,000, and the rules do not allow you to cut your tax or split your business just to qualify.
You cannot join if you own more than one shop, if you are a Tier-1 retailer (a large retailer, such as a chain or a shop in an air-conditioned mall, that FBR already requires to link to its POS system), if you sell jewellery, or if you provide professional services such as a doctor, engineer or lawyer. Companies and chain stores are outside the scheme too. If you are in one of these groups, the normal rules apply, including POS and digital invoicing where your category is notified.
The July 2026 draft procedure (SRO 1109(I)/2026) also set penalties for a shopkeeper who neither joins the scheme nor files a normal return: Rs 10,000 for the first default, Rs 25,000 for the second and Rs 50,000 for the third. Check the final SRO 1166(I)/2026 text for the exact figures. FBR wants more than three million retailers in the scheme.
How to register and pay in the app, step by step
Step 1: install the app. Search 'Asaan Tajir' on the Google Play Store. At launch it was in Urdu, with Pashto, Sindhi and Balochi versions promised for September 2026 and an iPhone version to follow. There is no fee to register. Step 2: fill the short form with your CNIC, your shop details and your declared sales for the year. The form also asks for purchases, expenses, net profit and assets, but it is a one-page return, not the long normal form.
Step 3: the app works out your tax: 1% of declared sales, with the minimum of Rs 25,000. Tax already cut from you at source (withholding tax — tax taken in advance, for example through your electricity bill) is adjusted against this amount. Step 4: the app creates a PSID (Payment Slip ID — a number you use to pay government tax through a bank, an ATM or a mobile wallet). Pay it. Step 5: once the payment clears, the app confirms that you are in the scheme, shows your filer status (your name on FBR's Active Taxpayer List) and issues a digital shop plate.
If you do not want to use the phone, you can file the same small shopkeeper return on the IRIS web portal (FBR's online tax system) or get help at your Regional Tax Office, where a focal person has been named for the scheme. RTO Islamabad ran an Asaan Tajir return-filing seminar for more than 100 traders on 7 September 2026, and FBR has a helpline and a WhatsApp number for complaints. 'How to Learn FBR Digital Invoicing: Training Plan, Official Manuals & Free Resources (2026)' and 'PRAL Digital Invoicing Helpline & Support: CRM Portal, FBR Helpline Numbers and What to Use When' list the other FBR support channels.
The green plate: what it shows and what it does
The green plate is a small sign for your shop front. It carries a QR code (a square barcode a phone camera can read), the owner's name, the NTN (National Tax Number — your tax ID) and the shop address, with security features so it cannot be copied. A digital version appears in the app right after payment. The physical plate is issued by the relevant tax office within about two weeks. It is free if you register before the return filing deadline, and it will cost no more than Rs 1,500 after that.
What the plate does: FBR has said no tax officer may enter a shop that displays the plate to question the owner on tax matters. That is the main promise of the scheme. Two limits are worth knowing. First, FBR keeps the right to act on third-party information, for example unusual bank transactions or the purchase of an expensive asset. Second, the plate's QR code identifies the shop, not a sale. It is not the same as the QR code on an FBR digital invoice, which carries the IRN (Invoice Reference Number — the unique number FBR gives every invoice) for one bill. 'The FBR Invoice QR Code (Version 2.0) Explained' covers that other code.
Where digital invoicing still applies
The fixed tax scheme is an income tax procedure. It removes the POS and digital invoicing duties that the income tax rules place on small retailers. It does not change the Sales Tax Act 1990 or the digital invoicing notifications under it: SRO 709(I)/2025 and SRO 1852(I)/2025 (24 September 2025), which brought registered manufacturers, importers, wholesalers, distributors and large retailers into FBR digital invoicing in phases up to 31 December 2025. If you are registered for sales tax and your category is on that list, you still send every invoice to FBR and print the IRN and QR code, plate or no plate. The penalty for not doing so starts at Rs 1 million.
Three common cases. A karyana shop selling to walk-in customers, not registered for sales tax: the scheme covers you, and digital invoicing does not apply for now. A shop that is also a wholesaler or importer registered for sales tax: the scheme may cover your income tax, but your sales tax invoices still go to FBR. A shop that opens a second branch, crosses Rs 200 million or becomes a Tier-1 retailer: you leave the scheme and the normal rules return, POS and digital invoicing included. 'FBR Simplified Tax Scheme for Small Shopkeepers (SRO 1166): Digital Invoicing Exemption Explained', 'Who Must Use FBR Digital Invoicing? Requirements & Notifications' and 'FBR POS Integration vs Digital Invoicing: Which One Does Your Business Need? (2026)' go deeper.
Even inside the scheme, keep your suppliers' invoices. Your one-page return declares purchases and expenses, and a supplier's FBR digital invoice, with its IRN, is the cleanest proof you can hold. 'How to Check a Supplier Before Claiming Input Tax: FBR Invoice, ATL & Registration Checks (2026)' shows how to check one in a minute. If your business is growing toward the line, get ready before you cross it. On Digi Invoice you can create a free account, practise in the sandbox (FBR's free test system where invoices do not count as real) and go live the day you need to. 'FBR Digital Invoicing for General Stores, Karyana Shops & Supermarkets (2026)' and 'FBR Digital Invoicing for Businesses with Multiple Branches or Outlets (2026)' cover that next step.
Difficult words in this guide
Asaan Tajir app — FBR's mobile app, also called the Retailer Scheme app, for joining the fixed tax scheme, filing the small shopkeeper return and paying the tax.
PSID (Payment Slip ID) — the number the app creates so you can pay your tax through a bank, an ATM or a mobile wallet.
NTN (National Tax Number) — your tax identity number with FBR. It is printed on the green plate.
Tier-1 retailer — a large retailer that FBR already requires to link its billing system to the FBR POS system. Tier-1 retailers cannot join the scheme.
IRN (Invoice Reference Number) — the unique number FBR gives every digital invoice. It sits inside the invoice QR code, not on the plate.