Business community seeks extension for income tax return filing

KARACHI: Pakistan’s business community on Monday demanded a 30-day extension in the deadline for submitting income tax returns, citing technical issues with the online tax system, ARY News reported.

The Central Organization of Tajran Pakistan and Ajmal Baloch, President of All Pakistan Anjuman Tajran, highlighted that traders are facing significant difficulties due to a slow system while submitting their tax returns.

They stressed that the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) should extend the deadline, given the economic challenges and technical barriers.

Although the FBR has yet to officially announce an extension, it is reportedly considering recommending the extension to the Prime Minister upon his return to the country.

Sources revealed that as of September 28, nine million tax returns had been submitted, significantly higher than the 1.4 million collected by this time last year.

Last week, on September 21, tax experts reported difficulties in filing clients’ income tax returns due to the slow processing of IRIS, an online portal where Income Tax Returns are filed.

Sources claimed that the system – IRIS – has been sluggish, making it challenging for tax professionals to submit returns in a timely manner.

Faraz Fazal, President of the Rawalpindi Islamabad Tax Bar, expressed his concerns in a letter to the FBR Chairman, emphasizing that the rush of taxpayers submitting returns near the deadline is a significant cause of system overload.

He urged taxpayers to avoid last-minute submissions to prevent system bottlenecks and called for a shift in habits to improve efficiency.