The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has issued the new five-page income tax return form for traders for the year 2025. The form seeks detailed business, financial, and personal information from taxpayers.
Traders are required to report turnover, cost of sales, gross and net profits, taxable income, taxes already paid, and the total value of capital assets under Section 7E of the Income Tax Ordinance.
The form also includes a separate page for personal expenses. Officials said it aims to improve transparency, but traders have expressed concerns about its complexity and the lack of an Urdu version for easy understanding.
Many traders pointed out that the electronic form is complicated and cannot be completed without hiring tax consultants. They said this makes the filing process time-consuming and increases compliance costs significantly.
Under previous schemes, such as Sections 236G and 236H, trader filers enjoyed low tax rates of 0.1 percent and 0.5 percent, with monthly advance taxes adjustable, including automatic tax calculations and bank refunds.
Since launching the Tajir Dost Scheme, the FBR registered over 58,000 small traders and shopkeepers by September 2024, far below the 3.2 million target, projecting Rs 50 billion revenue under this head for 2024-25.