KARACHI: The Karachi Tax Bar Association (KTBA) has formally urged the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) to remove all pending or processed applications filed under Section 119 of the Income Tax Ordinance, 2001 via the IRIS portal for tax year 2025, citing that these are now redundant following the issuance of a blanket deadline extension.
In a communication addressed to the FBR, KTBA pointed out that before the FBR issued Circular No. 4 of 2025-26 on September 30, 2025, a large number of taxpayers, acting in due diligence, had submitted online extension applications through IRIS seeking more time to file their income tax returns. These were filed before or on the original deadline date.
The circular, however, granted a universal extension until October 15, 2025, for all taxpayers, making the earlier individual applications under Section 119 unnecessary. Despite this, KTBA noted that these outdated applications are still active and visible in the system.
According to KTBA, the presence of these applications on the IRIS portal may lead to adverse consequences for otherwise compliant taxpayers, including possible penalties, audit triggers, or unnecessary litigation, due to a mismatch in application status or interpretation.
“To uphold the intent of the extension granted by Circular No. 4 and to avoid unintended legal and financial consequences, we request immediate directives be issued to all Commissioners-IR for removal of these applications from the IRIS system,” KTBA said.
The association expressed hope that the FBR would act swiftly to address this issue in the interest of fairness, administrative clarity, and to protect taxpayer rights.
