Karachi, September 27, 2023 – The Balochistan Tax Bar Association (BTBA) has brought to light significant challenges in filing income tax returns and has urged authorities to extend the filing deadline.
In a communication sent on Wednesday to the Chairman of the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), the BTBA outlined serious issues within the return filing portal and requested an extension of the deadline for filing income tax returns for the tax year 2023.
READ MORE: Return Filing Glitches Annoy Non-Resident Pakistanis
It is worth noting that the current deadline for filing returns is September 30, 2023, but the online portal of the FBR, known as IRIS 2.0, has been plagued by numerous errors and issues, as highlighted by the tax bar.
One of the key concerns raised by the BTBA is a calculation error within the IRIS 2.0 portal. They reported that the IRIS 2.0 module frequently encounters problems with data saving and becomes unresponsive, leading to the loss of entered data. The tax bar emphasized that this issue has not been resolved, causing significant difficulties for tax filers. Users are forced to repeatedly click the “save data” tab, even after calculations have been performed, ultimately hindering timely tax return filing by bar members.
READ MORE: FBR Issues Procedure for Income Tax Return Filing Date Extension
Additionally, the tax bar pointed out issues related to refund adjustments from previous years being inaccurately computed against the current year’s demands. When users input the refund amount, the system generates a different figure that does not align with the refund from previous income tax returns.
In relation to Section 7E of the Income Tax Ordinance, 2001, which deals with deemed income, the BTBA expressed concerns regarding the fair market values provided in the capital asset section by the FBR. Taxpayers have voiced apprehension, stating that the indicated values exceed the actual market values.
To underscore the gravity of these problems in return filing, the BTBA provided several screenshots in its communication to the FBR Chairman.
READ MORE: FBR May Extend Return Filing Date for Tax Year 2023 Amidst Technical Challenges
In light of the aforementioned issues and deficiencies, the tax bar has called for an extension of the filing deadline until December 31, 2023, to allow for the resolution of these problems and to ensure that taxpayers can file their returns accurately and without undue frustration.
