KARACHI: The Karachi Chamber of Commerce & Industry has asked the Federal Board of Revenue to modify the IRIS tax portal, saying a technical limitation is preventing some returning residents from filing accurate wealth statements for Tax Year 2026.
In a letter dated Oct. 26 to Zubair Bilal, a member of the FBR’s Inland Revenue Operations wing, KCCI President Talat Mahmood said the opening wealth balance in the IRIS Wealth Reconciliation Statement is automatically carried forward from the last filed wealth statement and cannot be amended.
As a result, individuals who were nonresident during intervening tax years and were not required to file wealth statements cannot enter the correct opening balance when they later resume residency and must submit a wealth statement under Section 116(2) of the Income Tax Ordinance, 2001, the letter said.
KCCI cited the example of a taxpayer who filed a wealth statement for Tax Year 2023, remained nonresident in 2024 and 2025, and regained resident status in 2026. The IRIS system continues to show the 2023 balance without allowing an opening balance for 2026, creating “an avoidable reconciliation difficulty” that may delay or impede accurate filing, the chamber said.
Mahmood said the requested change would apply only to individuals who were not legally required to file wealth statements in the intervening years. It is not intended to create a general exemption from wealth declaration requirements or to relax obligations for taxpayers who were required to file, he said.
KCCI asked the FBR to direct its technical team, including Pakistan Revenue Automation Ltd., to modify the IRIS validation mechanism for Tax Year 2026 so eligible returning residents can enter an appropriate opening wealth balance, subject to legal requirements and verification where necessary.
The chamber said the modification would facilitate compliance with Section 116(2), remove an unnecessary technical impediment and allow affected taxpayers to meet their current-year filing obligations accurately and efficiently.
KCCI urged the FBR to intervene urgently, citing the ongoing filing requirements for Tax Year 2026, and said it looked forward to a favorable response.
