Overseas Pakistani tax filing may get harder for people who return to Pakistan, the Karachi Tax Bar Association (KTBA) said in a letter to the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR). The KTBA has asked the FBR to change the IRIS system so that returning individuals can enter an appropriate opening wealth balance for Tax Year 2026. The association says the current system keeps an old figure that taxpayers cannot edit.
What the KTBA wants changed
The letter was sent to the FBR's Member Inland Revenue (Operations) on a Friday, and it asks for a targeted fix to IRIS validation rules. The KTBA said the existing restriction in the Wealth Reconciliation Statement creates difficulties for people who become tax residents again after years as non-residents. It urged urgent action so that affected individuals can correctly complete and submit their Wealth Statements and Wealth Reconciliation Statements for Tax Year 2026. The association also said the change would let these taxpayers reconcile their wealth without covering the years in which they were non-residents.
Why the locked balance is a problem
IRIS, the FBR's online tax system, carries the opening wealth balance forward from the last Wealth Statement a taxpayer filed, and that field cannot be edited. The KTBA gave the example of a person who was a Pakistani tax resident up to Tax Year 2023 and filed an income tax return, a Wealth Statement and a Wealth Reconciliation Statement for that year. That person then stayed a non-resident in Tax Years 2024 and 2025, declaring only Pakistan-source income and not filing wealth statements. On returning and becoming a resident for Tax Year 2026, the person must file under section 116(2) of the Income Tax Ordinance, 2001, the main income tax law, but IRIS holds the balance as of June 30, 2023, which makes reconciliation difficult.
The KTBA argued that under the self-assessment framework of income tax law, taxpayers should be able to declare their opening wealth balance based on relevant information and records, subject to legal provisions. It said the newer IRIS 2.0 filing utility should help people comply with section 116(2) without widening what the law requires. The association said this narrower fix was requested without prejudice to its broader position.
What happens next
The request concerns how IRIS checks wealth data, and it does not change the underlying duty to file wealth statements. No decision by the FBR on the request has been reported so far, so affected taxpayers will have to wait for a response. Anyone preparing a Tax Year 2026 filing in this situation should keep their asset and income records ready.
Aasan alfaaz mein
Karachi Tax Bar Association ne FBR se darkhast ki hai ke IRIS system mein wapas aane wale logon ko apna opening wealth balance khud darj karne ki ijazat di jaye. Abhi system pichla balance khud le leta hai aur usay badalne nahi deta, jis se Tax Year 2026 ki wealth statement banana mushkil ho raha hai. Agar aap bahar se wapas aaye hain aur tax return bharni hai, to ye tabdeeli aap ke liye kaam aasan kar sakti hai. Abhi FBR ki taraf se is darkhast par koi faisla report nahi hua hai.
