Lahore, September 12, 2025 – The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has landed in hot water after a wave of criticism erupted over persistent glitches in the return filing system.
Tax practitioners, business groups, and individual taxpayers are voicing outrage, claiming that the authority’s flagship IRIS portal is riddled with errors that are crippling the smooth submission of income tax returns for the tax year 2025.
In a strongly worded letter to the FBR chairman, the Gujranwala Tax Practitioners Association condemned the technical failures, pointing out that the late release of tax forms had already cut short the statutory window for compliance. Now, the portal’s frequent crashes, wrong calculations, and sluggish performance have pushed the return filing process into a crisis.
“Taxpayers are being punished for FBR’s inefficiency,” said Syed Zeeshan Ali Rizvi, President of the Association, adding that repeated errors were eroding confidence in the system. Among the key issues flagged were: non-adjustment of excess tax withheld under multiple sections, wealth statement mismatches, faulty IBAN verification, wrongful surcharge application on exempt incomes, and recurring upload failures.
These technical missteps are not just inconveniences—they threaten timely compliance and expose taxpayers to unnecessary penalties. The association stressed that a reliable system is critical for trust and efficiency in return filing.
Practitioners have demanded immediate corrective measures, including a technical overhaul of IRIS, clear guidelines through FAQs, a dedicated helpdesk, and, if glitches persist, an extension of the statutory deadline. Unless action is taken swiftly, stakeholders warn, the credibility of FBR’s digital reforms will be in jeopardy.