Karachi: The President and General Secretary of Pakistan Tax Bar Association has drawn the attention of Chairman FBR towards technical problems in IRIS system.
Following is the text of letter from PTBA dated August 22, 2025.
Text of Letter:
To,
Mr. Rashid Mahmood Langrial
Chairman
Federal Board of Revenue (FBR)
Islamabad.
PERSISTENT TECHNICAL ISSUES IN IRIS SYSTEM – TAX YEAR 2025
Dear Sir,
We at Pakistan Tax Bar Association, appreciate your team’s prompt resolution of the recent QR Code login issue. Now for the Tax Year 2025, new tax return was uploaded on the IRIS portal. But the said return still has a number of persistent technical problems that are severely affecting the smooth filing of income tax returns. Despite repeated complaints from members across the country, the following critical issues remain unresolved:
1. System Slowness and Lag:
The IRIS portal is operating at an unacceptably slow speed, particularly during peak filing hours. Loading each section of the return takes excessive time, and system responses are delayed by several minutes. This not only reduces productivity for tax practitioners but also increases the risk of incomplete submissions close to deadlines.
2. Adjustment Error in Final Tab:
When taxpayers make advance or challan payments, the system’s “Final Tab” fails to adjust these amounts against the computed liability. Instead, it continues to display the “Admitted Tax” without offsetting the payment, giving the false impression of outstanding dues. This has caused unnecessary follow-up work, confusion among taxpayers, and delayed acceptance of returns.
3. Frequent Disruptions and Disconnections:
Users are frequently logged out of the portal, especially during data entry and submission. The session time-outs are abrupt, and in some cases, entered data is lost entirely. This unreliability is forcing many users to re-enter information multiple times, wasting hours of work.
4. Delayed Issuance of Orders under Section 120:
As per standard procedure, an Order under Section 120 should be visible immediately upon successful submission of a return. However, the system is currently delaying this for up to 15 days. Such delays not only cause anxiety for taxpayers but also hinder further procedural steps, including refunds and adjustments.
5. Email Code Issue for Newly Registered NTN Holders:
New taxpayers registering on IRIS are not receiving their email verification codes, despite entering correct details. Without this verification, accounts remain inactive, making it impossible for them to file returns or perform any other statutory actions.
6. Error Message – “Please Provide Correct Receipt Value”:
During the final submission of returns, some taxpayers encounter the error message “Please provide correct Receipt Value.” Even when the payment and data entries are correct, this message blocks submission. As a result, taxpayers are left stranded without the ability to transmit their completed returns.
7. Non-Adjustment of Tax Withheld under Section 235 in the Case of AOPs:
For Associations of Persons (AOPs), tax withheld under Section 235 is not being properly adjusted against the final liability. For example, if the liability is Rs. 10,000 and the same amount is already withheld, the system initially shows Nil liability but then refuses submission, displaying “Make payment of admitted liability as per code 9203.” This is logically flawed and unnecessarily burdens taxpayers with a payment demand where no net liability exists.
8. Inability to Submit Appeals due to PIN Verification Failure:
When attempting to submit appeals through IRIS, the portal becomes unresponsive during the PIN verification stage. Without successful PIN authentication, appeals cannot be transmitted. This not only delays the appeal process but also risks missing statutory deadlines for filing.
We are now at the end of August, which is the peak filing period, yet the IRIS system is performing far below acceptable standards. Such inefficiency is causing immense hardship to taxpayers and consultants, jeopardizing timely compliance and potentially affecting revenue collection. Therefore, the timeline provided under Section 118 of the Income Tax Ordinance, 2001 which requires a taxpayers to have 90 days from the close of the financial year to file their tax returns, but due to the above hardships the taxpayers are still unable to file their tax returns till the end of August, which means that a further extension to cover the lapsed period should be provided to the taxpayer to file their tax returns with proper disclosure and without any last moment haste.
We sincerely hope that the above-mentioned issues will be addressed on an urgent basis, enabling taxpayers and consultants to discharge their statutory obligations without unnecessary hindrance. Timely resolution will facilitate compliant taxpayers..
Thanking you in anticipation.
Yours truly,
Anwar Kashif Mumtaz Mohammad Rehan Siddiqui
President General Secretary.
1. Member Operations,
Federal Board of Revenue,
Islamabad.
2. Member Policy,
Federal Board of Revenue,
Islamabad.