With the Tax Year 2026 return-filing season underway, the Pakistan Tax Bar Association has raised serious concerns over delays, bugs and operational difficulties in FBR’s IRIS portal. According to the document, the Tax Year 2026 return was uploaded on July 27, leaving taxpayers and practitioners with a comparatively compressed period to complete their filing obligations, while technical problems are further adding to the compliance burden.
Among the issues highlighted are the removal of the auto-save facility, which can result in taxpayers losing information already entered when sessions expire, internet connectivity drops or IRIS encounters an error. PTBA has also questioned the extensive property information being required through the return and suggested that, for the current year, detailed structural information could be restricted to properties acquired during the year, properties generating taxable income and properties disposed of during the year.
Another technical issue concerns income attribution under the minimum tax provisions of Sections 148 and 153. PTBA has pointed out that taxpayers are able to make certain attribution adjustments themselves for Section 148, while a comparable facility is reportedly unavailable in Section 153 cases. These concerns show that return filing is increasingly dependent not merely on understanding tax law, but also on whether the digital system accurately accommodates the legal positions taxpayers are required to report.