Technology exists to make life easier. But when the portal itself becomes the source of confusion, people lose faith in the digital system altogether. That is exactly where FBR's IRIS portal stands today.
The core problems are not hard to identify.
First, a rushed launch. The system went live without completing proper testing, and taxpayers are the ones discovering the gaps in real time.
Second, constant unannounced changes. A feature that worked yesterday disappears today, and a field that worked today throws an error tomorrow. There is no stability for anyone trying to file correctly.
Third, a lack of support. There is no demo, no clear user guide, and calling the helpline rarely produces a resolution.
Fourth, and most troubling, taxpayers and tax professionals have effectively become the system's unpaid testers, absorbing the consequences of defects that should have been caught long before launch.
Compare this to how mature tax administrations handle major system changes. The IRS in the United States, HMRC in the United Kingdom, and the FTA in the UAE all run structured beta testing, publish tutorial videos, and give practitioners time to adjust before a new system goes fully live. Here, the sequence is reversed. Launch first, figure it out later.
What should actually happen going forward is straightforward. Launch only after complete QA, because right now half finished returns are being rejected mid submission. Provide real demos and video tutorials, with a worked example for every field that causes confusion. And offer round the clock helpline and chat support, because a portal crash on deadline day with no one to call is not a small inconvenience, it is a systemic failure with real consequences for taxpayers.
There are also things FBR can do immediately, without waiting for a full system overhaul. Grant a grace period so that late filing penalties are not imposed while known bugs remain unresolved. Publish an issue tracking dashboard so taxpayers and practitioners can see which defects are logged and when they are expected to be fixed. And bring tax professionals into the process properly, by gathering structured feedback from chartered accountants and tax bar members before, not after, major changes go live.
The vision of a truly digital Pakistan will only be realized when the system is built for the people using it, rather than expecting the people to adapt themselves to a system that was not ready. I hope FBR is listening, and that this leads to concrete action rather than another cycle of patches after the fact.
Muhammad Rehan Sarwar
Advocate High Court
The Nomologists Law Firm
#FBR #IRIS2 #TaxYear2026 #TaxCompliance #DigitalPakistan