Glitches in IRIS 2.0: Timely filing of returns to be near impossible

KARACHI: The launch of FBR’s IRIS 2.0, has been plagued with so many problems that tax experts fear that timely filing of income tax returns will be near impossible.

The IRIS 2.0 platform was intended to provide faster and more efficient e-filing capabilities. But since it went live right at the height of tax return season, filers have encountered nothing but frustration.

According to a letter sent to the chairman FBR by the Karachi Tax Bar Association (KTBA), the updated system is riddled with both technical glitches and violations of tax law. The KTBA outlined numerous specific grievances after collecting feedback from its members. One major legal violation is that the FBR changed the tax return form without issuing the required Statutory Regulatory Order (SRO) to approve alterations and notify the public.

Additionally, while taxpayers have 60 days to revise returns after filing, the IRIS 2.0 system does not facilitate this at all. The KTBA said blocking legal return revisions violates the intended facilitation goal of the system.

On the technical side, users reported issues like prior year tax data disappearing, information crossover between client accounts, calculation errors, and missing third-party tax information. Navigation and performance were described as severely deteriorated compared to the old IRIS.

The KTBA called the launch timing “highly uncalled for,” saying it displays obliviousness about on-ground realities. With only weeks left until the filing deadline, millions of taxpayers have no usable system to comply with requirements.

The body urgently requested meetings with the FBR to find rapid solutions and warned that the current return form cannot realistically be filed due to errors.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2023