The Pakistan Tax Bar Association has raised concerns over legal and technical anomalies in the Income Tax Return for Tax Year 2026. It has also criticized the late availability of the revised return, which has reduced the time available to taxpayers and practitioners for preparation and filing.
Reported difficulties include incorrect or incomplete imported information relating to immovable properties, red error markings and problems locating and verifying auto-populated withholding-tax data. PTBA has argued that the new format was introduced without adequate consultation, despite being substantially different from the previous return.
The Association has also questioned whether Annex-I under the Fixed Tax Scheme for Small Traders can legally replace the statutory Return of Total Income and result in a deemed assessment under Section
Clarification has been sought regarding eligibility, multiple income sources, audit protection, withholding obligations, penalties and possible exemptions from Point-of-Sale and digital-invoicing requirements.