KTBA highlights Iris portal issues

KARACHI: The Karachi Tax Bar Association (KTBA) has identified serious functionality issues in the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR)’s Iris portal, particularly concerning the filing of sales tax returns and annexures.

In a letter to the chairperson of the FBR, the KTBA said that several recent changes to the Iris portal have caused significant functionality problems, making it increasingly difficult for taxpayers to file sales tax returns and annexures.

The association noted that these issues have made it practically impossible for taxpayers to meet the current deadline despite their best efforts. It urged the FBR to intervene and resolve these problems while also extending the filing deadline to March 28.

The KTBA highlighted that one of the major issues is the extension of HS codes from four to eight digits. The portal’s template has not been updated to accommodate this change, creating significant obstacles in preparing complete returns. This has led to unnecessary complexity, as many products serve multiple purposes, resulting in multiple applicable HS codes for a single item. The ambiguity increases the risk of errors, particularly for businesses dealing with high volumes and diverse product lines.

Another issue, per the association, is the lack of essential standard units of measurement, such as tonnes, kilogrammes, grams, litres, millilitres and ounces, which are crucial for accurate reporting. Furthermore, the mandatory linking of the unit of measurement with HS codes is impractical and hampers correct data entry.

The KTBA urged the FBR to immediately resolve these technical issues in the Iris portal. This, it said, would allow taxpayers sufficient time to comply once the system is fully functional.