Karachi, October 28, 2025 – The Karachi Tax Bar Association (KTBA) has raised alarm over a critical glitch on the Federal Board of Revenue’s (FBR) IRIS portal, which is preventing taxpayers from applying for the 2025 income tax return filing extension—just days before the October 31 deadline.
In a strongly worded letter addressed to the Director General (IT & Digital Transformation), the KTBA described the issue as a “catch-22 nightmare” for hundreds of taxpayers. Despite FBR’s Circular No. 5 of October 15, 2025, which granted a generic extension for individuals and Associations of Persons (AOPs) until October 31, 2025, many taxpayers remain trapped by a technical glitch on the IRIS system.
According to KTBA, taxpayers who had already applied for an extension before September 30 or October 15 under Section 119 of the Income Tax Ordinance, 2001, are now unable to submit fresh online requests. Their earlier applications remain “active and redundant” on the IRIS portal, effectively blocking new submissions once the current deadline expires.
The association revealed that the issue had been previously reported on October 7, 2025, to all five Chief Commissioners-IR Karachi, but no concrete action has been taken. In follow-ups, the commissioners reportedly expressed helplessness, directing KTBA to liaise with PRAL and the DG (IT) to resolve what is being called a “system-level anomaly.”
Calling the matter time-sensitive, KTBA has urged FBR’s top IT leadership to immediately fix the IRIS glitch, warning that failure to do so could trigger widespread anxiety among compliant taxpayers and undermine the spirit of FBR’s recent extension.
Tax professionals fear that without swift intervention, this technical bottleneck could disrupt thousands of online filings, tarnishing FBR’s push for digital transformation and taxpayer facilitation.