The Pakistan Tax Bar Association (PTBA) have called on the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) to urgently resolve technical problems affecting its IRIS portal, which is an online filing system.
PTBA warned that the issues are making it difficult for taxpayers to submit income tax returns for Tax Year 2026.
The Pakistan Tax Bar Association (PTBA) said the Tax Year 2026 return was uploaded on the IRIS portal on 27 July, later than the timeline set under the Income Tax Rules.
The association said the delayed availability of the return had left taxpayers and tax practitioners with limited time to meet their legal filing requirements. Technical glitches and other operational problems had added to the difficulties, it said.
The concerns were raised during a training session in Lahore on 25 August, organised by the Lahore Tax Bar Association.
The PTBA urged the FBR to ensure that tax returns are uploaded on time and that the IRIS system is fully tested before new features are introduced.
It also called for technical problems to be resolved quickly to prevent unnecessary difficulties for taxpayers during the filing period.
The association raised concerns over the amount of structural information about immovable properties being requested through the portal.
It proposed limiting mandatory property details for Tax Year 2026 to properties acquired during the year, capital gains from the sale of property and income earned from property.
Another major concern was the removal of the auto-save function from the IRIS return-filing system.
The PTBA said taxpayers could lose information they had entered or uploaded because of internet disruptions, system errors, interrupted sessions or heavy traffic on the portal.
It called for the auto-save feature to be restored, with information saved automatically at regular intervals and retained in taxpayers’ draft returns until final submission.
The association also asked the FBR to review differences in the treatment of minimum tax under Sections 148 and 153 of the Income Tax Ordinance and consider introducing a more consistent mechanism.
The PTBA said immediate corrective action was needed to allow taxpayers and tax practitioners to complete their Tax Year 2026 returns without further technical problems.
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