On August 18, 2025, the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) issued SRO 1561(I)/2025 to officially notify the new ‘simplified’ return of income form for tax year 2025.
(more…)Tag: Income Tax Return Form
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FBR Misses Deadline for Notifying 2025 Income Tax Return Forms
Karachi, February 20, 2025 – The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has failed to meet the deadline for notifying the finalized FBR return forms for income tax year 2025, raising concerns among taxpayers and experts regarding compliance and regulatory adherence.
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Tax Year 2024 Return Forms Set for Release by January 31
Karachi, January 28, 2024 – The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) is mandated by income tax laws to release the final return forms for Tax Year 2024 by January 31, 2024.
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FBR Obligated to Release Final Income Tax Return Forms by January 31 for Tax Year 2024
Karachi, December 8, 2023 – The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), acting within the parameters of tax legislation, is compelled to unveil the income tax return forms by January 31, 2024, for the impending tax year 2024.
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Tax Filing Nightmares: KTBA Reveals Critical Errors in 2023 Return Forms
Karachi, August 1, 2023: The Karachi Tax Bar Association (KTBA) on Tuesday brought to light critical errors and mistakes present in the income tax return forms for the tax year 2023.
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FBR extends date for providing deemed property income details till December 31
ISLAMABAD: Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has extended the date for providing details of deemed income of immovable property up to December 31, 2022, where annual returns have already filed.
In this regarding the FBR issued SRO 2052(I)/2022 on November 22, 2022 to introduce draft amendments to Income Tax Rules, 2002. Through the draft rules, the FBR proposed that a form which required details of income from immovable properties under Section 7E of the Income Tax Ordinance, 2001 can be filed up to December 31, 2022.
Prior to this the FBR issued SRO 1891 (I)/2022 on October 13, 2022 to launched the form and directed taxpayers to submit the same along with the annual income tax returns up to October 31, 2022. Although the date for filing annual income tax return for tax year 2022 has been extended up to November 30, 2022 but taxpayers are facing difficulties in fulfilling the requirement envisaged in the form.
It also created a legal complication as many returns for tax year 2022 were filed prior to issuance of the form making it difficult for the taxpayers to make changes in their forms.
In the latest SRO, the FBR stated: “Provided that where return has been furnished prior to coming into force of notification No. SRO 1891(I)/2022, dated October 13, 2022, the form specified in the said notification shall be furnished separately by December 31, 2022.”
On October 27, 2022, Karachi Tax Bar Association (KTBA) after the issuance of the SRO 1891, sent a communication to the FBR chief apprising about the challenges in filling 7E details.
The KTBA had pointed out that the issue of property values for the purpose of Section 7E of the Ordinance i.e. Deemed Income on Capital Assets.
“It is recalled that we stressed the need for incorporating the values given under the forty-two (42) notification (SROs) issued by the FBR in the month of March 2022 for property valuations under Section 68 of the Ordinance in the IRIS.
“It was recommended that those valuation tables were to be incorporated in the back end working of the income tax return in the IRIS after which the calculation of tax under Section 7E could be calculated automatically by the system, based on the description of property incorporated by the taxpayer in its wealth statement.
“It is re iterated that had this been done, it would ensure swift and correct computation of 20% tax on 5% value under Section 7E of the Ordinance and would avoid any standard deviation therefrom.
A NEW 7E ANNEXURE:
We would now like to invite your kind attention towards a “new set of requirement” which has been ventured in the IRIS and what now has become a bigger concern in context of Section 7E i,e, the new 7E Annexure. This annexure has lately been introduced in IRIS on 13th October 2022. We at the KTBA hold a considered view that it is unnecessarily a detailed format for a taxpayer or his advisor to fill and that too in these last days of tax returns filing.
Uncalled for Details:
The new annexure contains all the possible and imaginable categories of properties one could have. A basic list is being reproduced hereunder:
i. Agricultural Property
ii. Commercial Property
iii. Industrial Property
iv. Residential Property
v. Educational Property
vi. Health Property
vii. Natural Property
viii. Public Property
ix. Religious Property
x. Mixed Use Property
Your office would appreciate that apart from the first four (04) categories, the rest of the six (06) are not only unheard of in the domestic culture or tax laws of the country but these are not even owned by an individual in the first place. What is worrisome is that there are duplications and triplications to be filled in for the same property, which will surely give rise to issuance of uncalled for show cause notices by the department. The rational, therefore, needs to be thrashed out.
Fields for Property Details:
The Annexure incorporated vide SRO 1892 of 2022 dated 13th October 2022, with its fine details may have either been designed bespoke or borrowed from external source but only suitable to be made applicable where there is plenty of days and manhours left with to work on the same, not only fifteen (15) days and that too where these details do not add any value to the information.
The details of properties which have been required to be filled in, are details consisting of the following, which, your office would acknowledge, are completely irrelevant for purpose of valuation of property under Section 68 of the Ordinance.
i. Town Area of property
ii. Tehsil of Property
iii. Age of property
These are superfluous fields which have been required to be filled without any impact but have been made mandatory fields as without filling which one cannot move forward in IRIS and cannot proceed to file return. This is a serious deterrence.
Needless to mention that the size of the property and size of the built up or covered area with the name of City and location in the city are the only necessary data for valuation of property under the Ordinance as that is what is precisely needed not the town and tehsil, which is other as well is a cumbersome detail to be extracted.
Details for Exempt Properties:
It also merits a mention that above cumbersome details have been required to be punched in even in cases where there would not arise any liability on account of Section 7E or where the properties of the taxpayer are exempted from the purview of the provision. We understand that submission of details of the following exempted properties should also be exempted, which will actually be a facilitation in filing of return at least for those who do not have to pay this 1% tax;
1. Single self-owned property
2. Self-owned business properties
3. Self-owned agriculture land under cultivation
4. Fair market value of property less than Rupees 25 Million
5. Rented Properties
6. Properties purchased during the year with tax deposited CPR under Section 236K.
Valuations of Properties and Position of Valuation SROs
As for the valuation tables and the valuation SROs, it is critical for us to apprise your office that picking up the value from the SROs is not as easy as has recently been spelt out by the FBR. There are altogether forty-two (42) notifications (SROs) for the purpose, which were issued in the month of March 2022.
Out of these forty-two (42) SROs, twenty-eight (28) have been amended to date. Upon finding the applicable SRO for any city the portal provides you with the latest one. One consequently would need to search and recheck for the older SRO once again on the website. This is certainly time taking and painstaking exercise.
Secondly if a certain SRO has been amended, there is no amended SRO available in the cache, consequent to which the propensity to commit an error by taking the valuation from the older SRO gets certain.
In order to avoid such an impending consequence, the FBR should provide the final amended SRO of valuation failing to which the taxpayer will have to keep switching from older SRO to amended SRO or will commit the suspected error. This goes without saying as how much time consuming this exercise can become besides being tedious and painstaking.
Size of Notifications
It should not loose the sight of the regulator that apart from the amended Notifications, there are few SROs, which are unusually lengthy and detailed. This makes the job of the taxpayers even more arduous to keep sifting the pages to find for the precise location of his property therein. It would be worthwhile to enlist hereunder few of these:
i. Bahawalnagar is of 191 pages
ii. Bahawalpur is of 51 pages
iii. Multan is of 4,593 pages
iv. Faisalabad is of 4,712 pages
v. DG Khan is of 4,722 pages
vi. Quetta is of 28 pages
vii. Lahore is of 31 pages
The above have been quoted for giving few instances as to the ordeal your taxpayer will have to go through for filing your requirements, which is by any stretch of rational thinking is unwarranted.
Timing of Introduction of 7E Annexure:
And all of this has fallen due merely in the last fifteen days of October. Your office would appreciate that the timing of introduction of the 7E Annexure requires reconsideration. The Tax Return and their other Annexure were though introduced withing the legal time frame on June 30, however, the 7E Annexure was introduced on September 3rd, 2022, vide SRO 1829 of 2022 in draft form and finalized and uploaded on IRIS just after 10 days on Sep 13th, 2022 vide SRO 1891 of 2022. This is not less than three and a Half (3.5) months late.
REQUEST FOR A TUTORIAL AND DEMO PRESENTATION
Based on the forgoing it would be appropriate for us at the Bar to place genuine request in your office to kindly direct either the field formation or the relevant IT team to prepare at least a tutorial or to say a Demo Presentation for the basic level assistance of the taxpayers. The same can be placed on the website.
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FBR may extend return filing date due to political unrest, floods, IRIS errors
KARACHI: Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) may further extend the last date for filing income tax returns for tax year 2022.
The FBR has already given one date extension from September 30, 2022 to October 31, 2022.
Previously, the FBR extended the date on the complaints from the stakeholders that many errors on the IRIS portals hampered the return filing activities.
Although, currently many glitches have been addressed on return filing portal yet a large number of calculation errors still challenging the taxpayers.
Tax experts said that that long march started by PTI chairman, Imran Khan caused political uncertainty which has adversely affected the business activities in Pakistan
READ MORE: PTBA seeks clear 90 days for return filing after making portal error free
Pakistan Tax Bar Association (PTBA) and Karachi Tax Bar Association (KTBA) in different communications with the FBR chairman urged for the extension in last date because of the error in the IRIS portal.
The experts also said that the IRIS portal is surrounded with many calculation errors which is preventing the taxpayers while filing their income tax returns.
Therefore, the apex tax body urged the FBR to first remove errors on the portal and then provide statutory time to taxpayers in discharging their national duty.
The unprecedented flash floods in the country have terribly affected the cash flow of many businesses and receivables of previous fiscal year from several parts of the country.
The PTBA demanded the tax authorities of providing clear 90 days for return filing from the date when the portal is error free.
READ MORE: KCCI demands one month date extension for return filing
The increase in the last date will facilitate the taxpayers and business community at large scale to file income tax return on the error free IRIS portal.
The PTBA also suggested that timely decision be appreciated by the taxpayers/legal fraternity, who are working very hard day & night by playing their part towards the legal responsibility for contributing towards national exchequer.
It will also help in the collection of taxes at the appropriate time.
READ MORE: Calculating property valuation uphill task in completing tax return: Rehan Jafri
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KCCI demands one month date extension for return filing
The Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) has called upon the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) to extend the deadline for filing income tax returns, citing economic crises and political instability as the primary reasons for the request.
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Calculating property valuation uphill task in completing tax return: Rehan Jafri
Calculating valuation of immovable property for deemed income under Section 7E of the Income Tax Ordinance, 2001 is remained an uphill task in completing income tax return for tax year 2022.
Syed Rehan Hasan Jafri, President, Karachi Tax Bar Association (KTBA) expressed these views while talking to PkRevenue.com. He said that only couple of days are left for the last date for filing income tax return for tax year 2022 yet this issue is remained unaddressed besides many other issues highlighted by the tax bar.
Jafri said the bar had stressed the need for incorporating the values given under the forty-two (42) notification (SROs) issued by the FBR in the month of March 2022 for property valuations under Section 68 of the Ordinance in the IRIS.
READ MORE: FBR extends return filing date up to October 31, 2022
“It was recommended that those valuation tables were to be incorporated in the back end working of the income tax return in the IRIS after which the calculation of tax under Section 7E could be calculated automatically by the system, based on the description of property incorporated by the taxpayer in its wealth statement,” he added.
If it had done, it would ensure swift and correct computation of 20 per cent tax on 5 per cent value under Section 7E of the Ordinance and would avoid any standard deviation therefrom.
Jafri said a new 7E annexure has been introduced with a set of requirement, which has been ventured in the IRIS and what now has become a bigger concern in context of Section 7E i.e. the new 7E Annexure.
“This annexure has lately been introduced in IRIS on October 13, 2022.”
The KTBA holds a considered view that it is unnecessarily a detailed format for a taxpayer or his advisor to fill and that too in these last days of tax returns filing.
READ MORE: FBR allows refund adjustment to facilitate return filing
The new annexure contains all the possible and imaginable categories of properties one could have. A basic list included: i. Agricultural Property; ii. Commercial Property; iii. Industrial Property; iv. Residential Property; v. Educational Property; vi. Health Property; vii. Natural Property; viii. Public Property; ix. Religious Property; and x. Mixed Use Property.
Apart from the first four (04) categories, the rest of the six (06) are not only unheard of in the domestic culture or tax laws of the country but these are not even owned by an individual in the first place. “What is worrisome is that there are duplications and triplications to be filled in for the same property, which will surely give rise to issuance of uncalled for show cause notices by the department. The rational, therefore, needs to be thrashed out,” he demanded.
The Annexure incorporated vide SRO 1892 of 2022 dated October 13, 2022, with its fine details may have either been designed bespoke or borrowed from external source but only suitable to be made applicable where there is plenty of days and man-hours left.
READ MORE: FPCCI seeks statutory time for return filing after error removals
The details of properties which have been required to be filled in, are details consisting of the following, which, your office would acknowledge, are completely irrelevant for purpose of valuation of property under Section 68 of the Ordinance.
i. Town Area of property
ii. Tehsil of Property
iii. Age of property
These are superfluous fields which have been required to be filled without any impact but have been made mandatory fields as without filling which one cannot move forward in IRIS and cannot proceed to file return. “This is a serious deterrence,” Jafri added.
Needless to mention that the size of the property and size of the built up or covered area with the name of City and location in the city are the only necessary data for valuation of property under the Ordinance as that is what is precisely needed not the town and tehsil, which is other as well is a cumbersome detail to be extracted.
It also merits a mention that cumbersome details have been required to be punched in even in cases where there would not arise any liability on account of Section 7E or where the properties of the taxpayer are exempted from the purview of the provision. “We understand that submission of details of the following exempted properties should also be exempted, which will actually be a facilitation in filing of return at least for those who do not have to pay this 1 per cent tax.”
As for the valuation tables and the valuation SROs, it is critical for us to apprise your office that picking up the value from the SROs is not as easy as has recently been spelt out by the FBR. There are altogether forty-two (42) notifications (SROs) for the purpose, which were issued in the month of March 2022.
Out of these forty-two (42) SROs, twenty-eight (28) have been amended to date. Upon finding the applicable SRO for any city the portal provides you with the latest one. One consequently would need to search and recheck for the older SRO once again on the website. This is certainly time taking and painstaking exercise.
Secondly if a certain SRO has been amended, there is no amended SRO available in the cache, consequent to which the propensity to commit an error by taking the valuation from the older SRO gets certain.
In order to avoid such an impending consequence, the FBR should provide the final amended SRO of valuation failing to which the taxpayer will have to keep switching from older SRO to amended SRO or will commit the suspected error. This goes without saying as how much time consuming this exercise can become besides being tedious and painstaking.
READ MORE: FBR advised to extend tax return filing date for three months
Rehan Jafri pointed out the size of notifications related to valuations.
It should not loose the sight of the regulator that apart from the amended Notifications, there are few SROs, which are unusually lengthy and detailed. This makes the job of the taxpayers even more arduous to keep sifting the pages to find for the precise location of his property therein. It would be worthwhile to enlist hereunder few of these:
i. Bahawalnagar is of 191 pages
ii. Bahawalpur is of 51 pages
iii. Multan is of 4,593 pages
iv. Faisalabad is of 4,712 pages
v. DG Khan is of 4,722 pages
vi. Quetta is of 28 pages
vii. Lahore is of 31 pages
These are few instances as to the ordeal taxpayer will have to go through for filing requirements, which is by any stretch of rational thinking is unwarranted.
And all of this has fallen due merely in the last fifteen days of October. The timing of introduction of the 7E Annexure requires reconsideration. The tax Return and their other Annexure were though introduced within the legal time frame on June 30, however, the 7E Annexure was introduced on September 3, 2022, vide SRO 1829 of 2022 in draft form and finalized and uploaded on IRIS just after 10 days on September 13, 2022 vide SRO 1891 of 2022. This is not less than three and a Half (3.5) months late.
Jafri said that the FBR should direct either the field formation or the relevant IT team to prepare at least a tutorial or to say a demo presentation for the basic level assistance of the taxpayers. The same can be placed on the website.
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PTBA seeks clear 90 days for return filing after making portal error free
Pakistan Tax Bar Association (PTBA) has demanded the tax authorities of providing clear 90 days for return filing from the date when the portal is error free.
In a letter sent to Asim Ahmad, chairman, Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) on Friday, the PTBA requested that the taxpayers be provided the statutory period of clear 90 days for submission of their income tax returns from the day, the return is complete and portal is error free.
Moreover, timely decision would not only be appreciated by the taxpayers/legal fraternity, who are working very hard day & night by playing their part towards the legal responsibility for contributing towards national exchequer but also in collection of taxes at the appropriate time.
PTBA has already pointed out various technical and practical issues in the IRIS pre-defined formulas in the Income Tax Returns for Tax Year 2022 and we also endorse the stand / opinion / observations about system highlighted by our regional affiliated bars. However, as for as filing of Income Tax Return is concerned, tax machinery has not reached upto the mark to facilitate the taxpayers by providing error free, flawless and hassle free tax return forms.
READ MORE: KTBA demands perfect tax return form before setting filing deadline
Presently, it appears that the FBR has shifted/moved all its legal obligations/duties towards the taxpayers and FBR has only become the office for reporting, holding the taxpayer’s refund, creating illegal demands, using harsh recovery measures, charging heavy penalties, thrashing out the superior court decisions, illegal assessment on settled issues and squeezing the existing taxpayers; instead creating/providing opportunities for ease of doing business, of facilitating the taxpayer, making a balanced tax policy, harmonizing tax laws, reducing the tax litigation, broadening the tax base, promoting the tax culture and reducing the cost of doing business.
That, the aforementioned situation is a big question mark on the transparency and integrity of the FBR and also increasing the gap of trust deficit and lack of confidence between taxpayer and tax authorities.
The PTBA pointed out to the provision of section 114 of the Income Tax Ordinance, 2001 whereby every person is obliged to file tax return for a tax year on the form and manner as would be prescribed by the FBR for the relevant Tax Year i.e 30th day of September of each year as provided under section 118 of the Income Tax Ordinance, 2001.
READ MORE: FBR extends return filing date up to October 31, 2022
Non submission of the returns by the tax payers within due dates, not only entail the penalties but exclusion of name from the Active Tax Payer List (ATL).
The obligations placed by law on the relevant officials of FBR through Rule 34A of the Income Tax Rules, 2002 as notified vide SRO.1185(I)2020 dated 06-11-2020 whereby certain timelines in notifying the income tax return forms have been laid down.
As per sub-rule (2) to (4) of Rule 34A the draft of income tax return has to be notified for suggestions from all persons likely to be effected thereby on or before the first day of December of the financial year following the financial year to which the return relates by observing following timelines and procedure prescribed therein.
Vide clause (e) of sub-rule (4) of Rule 34A it is clearly provided that final income tax return shall be made available on portal IRIS by thirty first day of January of the financial year following the financial year to which the return relates. Your good self would kindly note that from thirty first day of January till thirtieth of June is the period wherein all the deficiencies or corrections in the system can be taken care of and from 1st day of July every tax payer would have a clear 90 days’ time to submit his/it return.
As against the legal requirement as prescribed by law the draft of income tax return for the T Y 2022 had notified on 21-06-2022 and final return was notified and made available on portal IRIS on 30-06-2022 which is still deficient, whereas it was required to be made available on thirty first day of January.
In addition to the above, we also take the opportunity to further draw your kind attention to the following issues in the return which needs your immediate action:
READ MORE: FBR allows refund adjustment to facilitate return filing
ISSUES OF RETURN
That, as per law the tax payer is entitled to claim adjustment of his previous refunds against tax liability for the current tax year but the relevant column for adjustment of refund has illegally been blocked, which is against the fundamental rights and present scheme of law under the Income Tax Ordinance, 2001. In this regard an earlier letter was submitted to this good office dated 23-08-2022.
That, we have already sent letter dated 27-09-2022 for issuance of clarification on the value of immovable property declared by the taxpayer (actual consideration paid, value fixed by D.C. or value fixed by FBR) is still pending and needs consideration, enabling the taxpayer to declare the value of immovable property.
Similarly, the draft of manual return of income for the Individuals and AOPs for the Tax Year 2022 was issued as late as on 26-08-2022 whereas the final SRO.1733(I)/2022 has been issued on 13-09-2022. Meaning thereby only 47-days’ time has been allowed to file the manual returns which is insufficient as provided under law supra.
Similarly, the draft SRO.1829(I)/2022 for Tax Chargeable/Payments under section 7-E for the Individuals for the Tax Year 2022 was issued on 03-10-2022, whereas the final SRO.1891(I)/2022 has been issued on 13-10-2022. Meaning thereby only 17-days’ time has been allowed to charge, deposit and file the returns which is insufficient as provided under law supra.
That, after the final notification vide SRO.1891(I)/2022 dated 13-10-2022 and insertion of new annexure of 7-E in return, which was issued late of three and half month after the final notification of return has opened a new set of requirement that require un-necessary data fields regarding the description/categories of property, locality details of property and detail of exempt properties.
READ MORE: FPCCI seeks statutory time for return filing after error removals
That, multiple SRO’s have been issued for valuation of properties under section 68 of the Income Tax Ordinance, 2001 consisting of thousands pages each SRO and frequently changed/amended and no updated separate list of SRO is available, which will also increase the risk of error and mistakes. In order to streamline the process and ease of taxpayer and legal fraternity; the FBR should issue a final amended notification enabling the taxpayer and tax advisors to complete their work.
Similarly, the draft SRO.1892(I)/2022 for further amendments in Income Tax Rules, 2002 for the Non-resident Ship Owner or Charterer, Non-resident Air Craft Owner or Charterer, Simplified Return of Income for Retailer having turnover less than 10 (Million), Simplified Return for Individual/AOP having turnover upto 50(Million) and changes in Computation of Income Tax Return for the Tax Year 2022 was issued on 13-10-2022, whereas the final SRO.1955(I)/2022 has been issued on 24-10-2022. Meaning thereby only 07-days’ time has been allowed to charge, deposit and file the returns which is insufficient as provided under law supra.
That the income tax return form introduced for SMEs sector has been issued on the IRIS system without sharing a Draft of the same as required under sub-section (2) of section 100E read with section 237 of the Ordinance. However, it has also been noted that the simplified return for SME uploaded without issuing the draft return, the same may lead to illegality. It is therefore, suggested that issue draft followed by final return be issued to meet with the requirement of law; enabling the taxpayers to avail the benefits for SME sector provided under section 2(59A) of the Ordinance.
That, the IRIS portal is calculating incorrect initial depreciation allowance on purchase of Plant & Machinery against the provisions, of section 23 read with the part-II, 3rd Schedule of the Income Tax Ordinance, 2001. In addition to aforementioned IRIS portal is also showing wrong written down balance on addition of fixed assets and calculating 50% on opening balance instead of addition of fixed assets during the year.
That, under the head of capital gains under section 37A of the Income Tax Ordinance, 2001 the adjustment of brought forward capital losses on listed securities cannot be calculated due to non-availability of column for incorporating the values/figures.
That, presently IRIS portal is calculating/charging the excess/ incorrect tax liability on income covered under section 153 of the Ordinance, on the basis of fixed/predefined wrong formulas due to which the taxpayers are bound to pay high tax instead of their actual tax liability, which is against the spirit of self-declaration and present scheme of law. De-freezing of attribution tabs and enabling the taxpayers to enter correct figures/data to filed their return in time may resolve the issue.
READ MORE: FBR advised to extend tax return filing date for three months
That, the IRIS is illegally requiring Commissioner’s approval in such cases, where revision of Income Tax Return is made within 60 without of filing of original return, which is against the provisions of section 114(6) of the Income Tax Ordinance, 2001.
That, another issue regarding the downloading of Computerized Payment Receipt (CPR), the system shows message “Challan / CPR does not Exist” against the valid CPR duly deposited in the national exchequer.