FBR’s IRIS Portal Glitches Leave Taxpayers Stranded

The Federal Board of Revenue’s (FBR) IRIS portal remained inaccessible for most of Monday, leaving taxpayers and tax practitioners across the country unable to file their income tax returns for Tax Year 2025. The disruption has triggered urgent appeals from professional bodies and tax consultants for an extension of the return filing deadline. The Lahore Tax Bar Association (LTBA) sounded the alarm in a letter to the Finance Minister, highlighting that the IRIS portal was non-functional throughout the day. “Tax practitioners and taxpayers were unable to file income tax returns due to the outage,” the LTBA stated, warning that the situation could lead to widespread non-compliance through no fault of the taxpayers. Adding to the frustration, the LTBA pointed out that the “payment details” tab had been removed from the Management Information System (MIS) section of the IRIS portal. “This is illegal, unfair, and unjustified. It’s a new hurdle created by the FBR, making it even harder for taxpayers to fulfill their obligations,” the association said, urging the FBR to immediately extend the filing deadline. Tax professionals in other cities reported similar issues. A prominent tax consultant described the system as “painfully slow,” with only a handful of returns successfully filed. “The bigger problem is the removal of the payment tab from the MIS section. It briefly appeared on the FBR Maloomat Portal, only to be removed again, adding to the confusion.” Meanwhile, the Professional Accountants Forum (PAFO) has formally requested the Finance Minister to grant a general extension. In a letter, PAFO President Muhammad Iqbal reminded the government that, under Section 118 of the Income Tax Ordinance, individuals and associations of persons with a fiscal year from July 1, 2024, to June 30, 2025, and companies with year-ends between July 1 and December 31, 2024, are required to file their Tax Year 2025 returns by September 30, 2025. PAFO, which represents a broad spectrum of financial professionals, including chartered accountants, cost and management accountants, MBAs, and other business experts, urged the Finance Minister to direct the FBR to issue a circular by September 29 or 30, granting a general extension until at least October 31, 2025.