Privacy Policy

Last updated: 1 August 2026. Data controller: IMAAR ASSOCIATES (PRIVATE) LIMITED, Office No. 8, Floor M, Century Tower, Kalma Chowk, Main Boulevard, Gulberg III, Lahore, Pakistan. Privacy contact: info@imaarinternational.com.

1. Scope

This policy covers imaarinternational.com, our client portal, and personal information we handle in the course of providing professional services. Because we act for overseas Pakistanis, foreign investors and clients with United States tax obligations, it is written to meet the expectations of clients in the United Kingdom, the European Union and the United States as well as Pakistan.

2. Information we collect

2.1 Information you give us

• Enquiry details submitted through our contact form, by email, by telephone or over WhatsApp: name, contact details and a description of your matter.
• Client engagement information: identity documents (CNIC, passport), National Tax Number, business registration details, financial records, bank statements, payroll data, and any other document relevant to the matter you instruct us on.
• Client portal credentials and uploads where you use our portal or document upload facility.
• Payment information in relation to our invoices.

2.2 Information collected automatically

• IP address, browser and device type, pages viewed, referring page and time of visit, through server logs and Google Analytics.
• Cookie data, as described in section 8.

2.3 Sensitive information

Tax, financial and legal matters necessarily involve sensitive information. In litigation and family law matters we may receive information about criminal allegations, health or family circumstances. We collect such information only where necessary for the matter and handle it under the confidentiality obligations in section 6.

3. Why we use it

• Responding to your enquiry and assessing whether we can act — steps towards a contract; our legitimate interest in operating the practice.
• Providing the professional services you instruct us on — performance of our engagement contract.
• Preparing and lodging filings, returns and applications with authorities on your instruction — performance of contract; your instruction.
• Meeting our own legal, regulatory and professional obligations, including record retention and know-your-client checks — legal obligation.
• Invoicing and maintaining accounts — performance of contract; legal obligation.
• Improving the website — consent for non-essential cookies; otherwise legitimate interest.
• Sending service updates — consent, withdrawable at any time.

We do not sell personal information, and we do not share it with data brokers.

4. Who we share it with

• Authorities, on your instruction. Where you engage us to prepare and lodge a filing, we submit the information that filing requires to the relevant authority — for example the FBR, SECP, PRA, PSEB, IPO-Pakistan or the United States Internal Revenue Service. We do this as your appointed representative, on your instruction, and not otherwise.
• Courts, tribunals and opposing parties where necessary to conduct litigation you have instructed us on.
• Professional service providers bound by confidentiality: our IT and hosting providers, our accountants and our own legal advisers.
• Where required by law, including in response to a lawful order, notice or statutory demand.

Where we are compelled by law to disclose, we will notify you unless prohibited from doing so.

5. Processors and third-party tools

We use third-party services to operate the practice, including website hosting, email, cloud document storage, WhatsApp Business for client communication, and Google Analytics. Each is engaged on terms requiring confidentiality and appropriate security.

6. Confidentiality and security

Client confidentiality is a professional obligation, not merely a policy commitment. Practical measures include access restricted to personnel working on your matter, encrypted transmission of the website and client portal, access-controlled document storage, and confidentiality obligations in every staff contract.

No system is perfectly secure. Please do not send highly sensitive documents over unencrypted email or a public channel before an engagement is in place; ask us for a secure route instead.

7. International transfers

We are based in Pakistan. If you instruct us on United States tax matters, information necessary to those matters is transmitted to the United States Internal Revenue Service. Some of our IT providers store data outside Pakistan. Where information is transferred internationally we take reasonable steps to ensure it remains subject to appropriate protection and confidentiality.

8. Cookies and analytics

We use essential cookies to make the site and client portal function, and Google Analytics to understand how the site is used. Non-essential cookies are set only with your consent, and you can withdraw consent or block cookies through your browser settings at any time. Blocking essential cookies may prevent the client portal from working.

9. Retention

We keep client files for as long as the engagement continues and afterwards for the period required by the statutory, tax and professional record-keeping rules that apply to the work, and for any period during which a claim could still be brought. As a general guide we retain tax and accounting records for six years from the end of the relevant tax year, corporate records for ten years, and litigation files for ten years from conclusion. Enquiries that do not become engagements are deleted within twelve months.

10. Your rights

Subject to applicable law and to our professional and statutory obligations, you may ask us to confirm what personal information we hold about you and give you a copy; correct information that is inaccurate; delete information we no longer have a lawful basis to keep; restrict or object to a particular use; withdraw consent where we relied on consent; or provide your information in a portable format.

Some rights are limited. We cannot delete records we are required by law to retain, or material subject to legal professional privilege or an ongoing matter. To exercise a right, email info@imaarinternational.com. We will respond within 30 days and may need to verify your identity first.

11. Children

Our services are directed to adults and to businesses. We do not knowingly collect information from children except where it forms part of a matter we are instructed on, such as a family law or dependant ITIN application, in which case it is provided by a parent or guardian.

12. Changes

We may update this policy. The current version is always published here with its date. Material changes affecting existing clients will be notified directly.

13. Complaints

If you are unhappy with how we have handled your information, contact us first at info@imaarinternational.com and we will investigate. You may also complain to the relevant supervisory authority in your jurisdiction.