As the new fiscal season kicks off, taxpayers across Pakistan are growing increasingly restless, wondering when the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) will release the much-anticipated income tax return forms for Tax Year 2025 (TY2025).
Traditionally, the month of July marks the beginning of the return filing season, and taxpayers—especially salaried individuals, business owners, and companies with special financial years—start preparing their documents for timely submission.
Yet here we are, a few days into July, and the forms are nowhere in sight.
According to tax experts, the FBR is already behind schedule. Under Rule 34A of the Income Tax Rules, 2002, the FBR is required to notify draft return forms well in advance. This process includes stakeholder consultation, legal reviews, system configuration, and testing—ideally concluding with the final notification by January 31 of the relevant financial year.
Let’s rewind a bit to last year. The FBR issued draft return forms for TY2024 as early as June 21, 2024, and finalized them by July 4. That gave taxpayers nearly the full three-month window—from July 1 to September 30—to file returns without unnecessary stress.
This year? Not even the draft forms have been issued.
That’s not just a minor slip-up—it’s a direct violation of FBR’s own timelines. These delays now threaten to squeeze the time window for millions of taxpayers who aim to file before the September 30 deadline (or December 31 for corporate entities). And the longer the wait, the more the pressure builds.
So what’s taking so long?
Rule 34A outlines a well-structured timeline: from legal amendment identification in August, to the preparation of Change Request Forms (CRFs), followed by IT configuration, user testing, and final notifications—all before January 31. The income tax return forms should then be made available for feedback until January 7, allowing time to implement suggested changes and notify final forms.
Unfortunately, the FBR appears to be sidestepping this process, at least for now.
Taxpayers are not only frustrated—they’re worried. Filing taxes on time is a legal obligation, but without access to official forms, the task becomes nearly impossible.
For now, all eyes remain on the FBR. Taxpayers can only hope the authority moves swiftly to issue the forms, enabling them to meet their legal duties without last-minute panic.