Karachi, May 24, 2025 – A storm of discontent is brewing across Pakistan’s business and tax circles, as the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) faces intensifying pressure to extend the deadline for sales tax return filing yet again.
With the clock ticking and mounting frustration among taxpayers, what started as a routine compliance process has now turned into a nationwide crisis for the FBR.
The controversy stems from major changes introduced to sales tax return forms on the FBR’s IRIS portal. These updates, aimed at improving documentation and transparency, have instead caused widespread confusion and system glitches. Despite repeated deadline extensions, a large number of sales tax-registered individuals and businesses remain unable to submit their returns for March and April 2025.
In a bold move, the Pakistan Tax Bar Association (PTBA) has formally appealed to FBR Chairman Rashid Mahmood Langrial to push the deadline further—this time until June 30 or until the system errors in the new annexures are fixed. In their letter, PTBA highlighted that only a fraction of returns have been filed due to technical discrepancies that continue to plague the system.
“Taxpayers are being set up for failure,” the letter stated dramatically. “The annexures may be well-intentioned, but unresolved errors have left a majority of sales tax filers at risk of being unfairly penalized.”
The PTBA, while endorsing the government’s broader documentation drive, cautioned the FBR that enforcing penalties under the current circumstances would not only be unjust but would also shatter confidence in the tax system. Many filers, they said, are desperate for clarity and fair treatment.
The association also demanded that those who filed flawed returns due to confusion surrounding the new disclosure formats be allowed to revise them through the IRIS portal without penalty—highlighting a massive surge in queries from bar associations across the country.
“The system is broken, the data is incomplete, and yet the deadline looms,” a PTBA spokesperson remarked. “We urge the FBR to act now—not just for the sake of taxpayers, but for the integrity of sales tax collection itself.”
With stakes high and the business community on edge, all eyes are on the FBR to see whether it will yield to the pressure or risk a backlash that could jeopardize the credibility of its much-touted reforms.