Delay in uploading 2025 tax return forms: Contempt proceedings sought against FBR officials

ISLAMABAD: A tax lawyer has requested Federal Tax Ombudsman (FTO) to initiate contempt proceedings against relevant Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) officials for not timely uploading manual/paper income tax return for the Tax Year 2025.

The return has not been uploaded on the FBR’s website despite passage of seven days of the issuance of the FTO’s directive.

“The concerned FBR officials are responsible for latest episodes of mismanagement, and inefficiency in case of inordinate delay in issuing the tax return forms for TY-2025, violating legal timelines and severely disrupting compliance processes.

FBR yet to notify manual/paper income tax return for TY25

Even manual tax return form has not been issued yet (22.10.2025). The playful circus with wealth statement form and timely intervention by FTO is a rare instance of inefficiency, incompetency and maladministration of justice”, the petition added.

FTO’s key recommendations to the FBR were to upload and notify the manual/paper income tax return for the Tax Year 2025.

The complaint before the FTO, Waheed Shahzad Butt stated that failure to make available the manual or paper return forms, as required under the Income Tax Rules, 2002 has caused unnecessary hardship to taxpayers and practitioners who rely on the manual system for filing their annual returns. FTO has ordered FBR to immediately ensure the upload the manual/paper tax return for Tax Year 2025, emphasizing that adherence to prescribed rules.

The FTO order stated “The complainant stated that as per rule 73(2DD) of Income Tax Rules 2002, it is mandatory to e-file the Income Tax Return if an individual taxpayer has taxable income one million rupees or more. Accordingly, other taxpayers having less income than Rs. 1,000,000/- are required to file manual income tax returns.

However, the FBR did not issue the manual return form for tax year 2025 for the eligible taxpayers. The latest screen shot of the income tax returns up to 2024 has been placed. The FBR has failed this time to upload or notify the manual/paper return for the tax year 2025. The FBR should immediately ensure upload of the manual /paper tax return for tax year 2025, the FTO order added.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2025