IRIS portal: KTBA asks FBR to provide complete records of system breakdowns

KARACHI: The Karachi Tax Bar Association (KTBA) has requested the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) to provide complete records of system breakdowns and outages affecting the IRIS 2.0 portal, invoking the Right of Access to Information Act, 2017.

In a letter addressed to the FBR chairman, the KTBA highlighted multiple concerns severely hampering taxpayers’ ability to file their returns for Tax Year 2025 before the September 30 deadline.

The tax body pointed out that the final return of income for Tax Year 2025 was notified by the FBR on August 18, 2025, in violation of timelines prescribed under Rule 34A of the Income Tax Rules, 2002.

It said that the FBR continued modifying the return format on the IRIS portal throughout this compressed period. Most notably, on September 24—just six days before the deadline — a column titled “Estimated Current Market Value” was added to the statement of assets and liabilities, only to be withdrawn on September 26.

The KTBA alleged that these alterations were made without following the mandatory procedures laid down in Section 237 of the Income Tax Ordinance, 2001, raising questions about their legal propriety.

The association said that taxpayers and tax consultants have faced “intolerable” conditions due to constant breakdowns and instability of the IRIS portal, consuming countless hours in unsuccessful filing attempts.

Despite repeated engagement with the FBR regarding these malfunctions, the KTBA said that the situation remained largely unaddressed and demanded the FBR to issue an apology to taxpayers for violating established legal procedures, misguiding over IRIS functionality, and failing to provide quality service and the full 90-day filing period as envisaged by law

The tax body urged the FBR to conduct a complete overhaul of the IRIS portal to align it with the prevailing legal framework, remove chronic glitches and legal inconsistencies, and re-notify the return of income in accordance with Section 237.

The KTBA also called for extending the full statutory period of 90 days for IT returns filing as prescribed under Section 118 of the Income Tax Ordinance, 2001.

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