Pakistan FBR collects record salaried income tax amid calls to fix IRIS system

Pakistan’s Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) collected Rs44 billion in income tax from the salaried class in July, marking the highest collection for that month in three years. This figure exceeds the Rs42 billion collected in July of the previous fiscal year and the Rs30 billion collected in July 2023-24. The increase occurred despite recent federal budget reductions in income tax rates for several salary brackets.

While revenue from salaried individuals has risen, tax collection from property transactions remains lower than last year despite an increase in property deals.

Simultaneously, tax professionals and lawyers are calling for urgent technical improvements to the FBR’s IRIS online filing system. Despite the launch of IRIS 2.0 intended to improve performance, users continue to report issues including system downtime, data matching errors, delays in invoice verification, and problems with withholding statements. Professionals warn that these procedural and technical challenges must be addressed to prevent difficulties for taxpayers during peak filing periods.