KATI seeks another extension for income tax returns deadline

Sheikh Umer Rehan, head of the Korangi Association of Trade and Industry (KATI), has asked authorities, including the FBR, to push the income tax filing date back by a further month. According to Business Recorder, he cited repeated technical faults and slow processing on the IRIS portal. He noted that an earlier 15-day relief period had not allowed many traders and industrialists to submit their returns.

Rehan said taxpayers were dealing with system freezes, upload problems, challan generation errors and other obstacles on the portal. He argued that penalising filers under these conditions would be unfair, and asked for late-filing fees and penalties to be waived for those whose delays stemmed from IRIS faults. He also called on the FBR to strengthen system capacity and technical support so that similar disruptions do not recur.

KATI stressed that the business community was ready to work with the government on growth and revenue goals, but that this depends on an efficient, dependable and user-friendly filing system. The prime minister and finance minister were asked to act immediately and direct the FBR to resolve the difficulties.