Pakistan Social Security & Pension Contributions

General reference only. This skill is general tax/accounting reference material for AI-assisted workflows. It has not been reviewed for any specific person's facts, documents, elections, deadlines, residency, filing status, or local procedures. Do not rely on it to file, pay, amend, or take a tax position without review by a qualified professional in the relevant jurisdiction.

Section 1 — Quick Reference

Scheme	Who	Contribution (verify current rates)
EOBI (Employees' Old-Age Benefits Institution)	Employers with 5+ employees (some 1+)	Employer ~5% + employee ~1% of minimum wage
Provincial social security (ESSI / PESSI / SESSI / KPESSI / BESSI)	Employers, for secured (low-wage) employees	Employer % of wages (province-specific)
Self-employed / freelancers	Generally OUTSIDE mandatory schemes	EOBI voluntary self-employment option may exist (verify)

Field	Value
Currency	PKR
Authorities	EOBI (federal); provincial ESSIs
Skill version	1.0

Section 2 — Key points (Tier 1)

• Pakistan's social-security system is largely employer-employee based (EOBI for pensions; provincial ESSIs for medical/contingency benefits for secured employees).
• A self-employed freelancer with no employees generally has no mandatory social contribution — this is unlike most other countries and is important to state clearly. Income tax (and, for exporters, the IT-export final tax) is the main obligation.
• If the freelancer hires employees, EOBI (5+ employees) and the relevant provincial ESSI registration/contributions can apply (see pk-payroll).
• A voluntary EOBI route for self-employed/voluntary insured persons may be available — verify current rules.

Section 3 — Worked example

A solo freelancer with no staff: no EOBI/ESSI contribution due; obligations are income tax / IT-export final tax only. If they later hire 5 staff, EOBI registration and contributions begin.

Section 10 — Prohibitions

• NEVER tell a solo freelancer they owe mandatory EOBI/ESSI as a self-employed person (generally they do not) — but flag the voluntary option.
• NEVER omit EOBI/ESSI once the freelancer becomes an employer above the thresholds.
• NEVER state contribution rates without verifying current EOBI/provincial figures.

Disclaimer

Informational only; not advice. Verify EOBI and provincial ESSI rules with the relevant authority. All outputs must be reviewed and signed off by a qualified Pakistani practitioner. Maintained at openaccountants.com.