Good news for manual income tax return filers! They will now enjoy the same tax benefits as those who file electronically.

The Federal Tax Ombudsman (FTO) has made this decision which means manual filers will be eligible for lower withholding tax rates, just like electronic filers.

This change happened because a tax lawyer Waheed Shahzad Butt raised a concern about the unfair treatment of manual tax filers compared to electronic ones, as reported by Pro Pakistani.

The FTO looked into this matter and talked to key officials from the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) to solve it.

The problem was that the FBR was leaving out the income tax returns filed manually for Tax Year 2022 from the Active Taxpayer List (ATL), even when they were filed on time.

This was against the rules and not fair to taxpayers. Fortunately, after some discussions, they found a solution without going to court.

The FTO's decision says the FBR must set up a system and rules to make sure that all return filers for the current tax year are listed as active in the ATL according to the board's rules.

At the start of October, FBR extended the deadline for filing tax returns by a month.

In a post close to midnight on its X account, the board wrote that it was taking the decision to extend the last date for filing tax returns to October 31 at the demand of trade bodies and various tax bar associations.

How to file income tax returns in Pakistan: step-by-step guide (2023)

The previous deadline was September 30, and the revenue had categorically announced that the date was not being extended. However, in a late night decision, it decided to give in to the various demands.

However, it also stressed in the latest post that no further extension for filing of tax returns would be granted.