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Complete Beginner's Guide to Filing Your Tax Return Through FBR IRIS
A general, plain-language walkthrough of what preparing and submitting a return usually involves. This is educational information, not a substitute for the official FBR system or professional advice.
Last updated: September 2026 (rule version 2026.1) · Reviewed for clarity, not for current tax rates. See what's new for FY 2026-27 ↓
What's new for FY 2026-27
Last verified: Sep 2026Pakistan's fiscal year (FY 2026-27) runs 1 July 2026 – 30 June 2027. Two things are worth separating here, since they're often confused:
- Filing happening right now (Tax Year 2026): this covers income earned 1 July 2025 – 30 June 2026. The IRIS filing window opened 27 July 2026, with the standard deadline 30 September 2026 for salaried individuals, other individuals, and Associations of Persons (AOPs), and 31 December 2026 for companies with a 30 June year-end. FBR has extended this deadline in some past years, but an extension is never guaranteed — filing early is the safer approach.
- Rules now in effect for FY 2026-27 (Tax Year 2027, filed in 2027): the Finance Act 2026, passed alongside the FY 2026-27 federal budget, took effect from 1 July 2026 and revised several areas — salaried income tax slabs, treatment of immovable-property transactions, super tax for large companies, capital value tax on residents' foreign assets, and continued rollout of mandatory electronic invoicing and monitoring for sales tax. The exact rates, thresholds, and monetary figures are exactly the kind of detail this tool deliberately avoids hard-coding, since they're set by the Finance Act's gazetted text and can be adjusted further by SRO after enactment.
For sales tax specifically, the monthly return rhythm continues: returns are generally due by the 18th of the following month, even for a nil-sales period, and mandatory POS/e-invoicing integration for retailers continues to expand.
For exact figures — tax slabs, exemption thresholds, withholding rates, or any deadline extension — always check fbr.gov.pk or iris.fbr.gov.pk directly, or a qualified tax professional. Third-party summaries (including this one) can lag official notifications.
Step-by-step walkthrough
Understand your tax profile
Before you begin, it helps to know your taxpayer category (e.g. salaried, business, freelancer), your relevant tax year, and roughly which income sources apply to you.
Access IRIS
Access the official FBR IRIS system directly through the official FBR website. Razi Tax Mate does not host or replicate the IRIS login — always use the official source and never enter your IRIS credentials anywhere else.
Start the relevant return
Look for the relevant return/submission option shown in your current IRIS account for your taxpayer category and tax year.
Enter income
Common income categories include salary, business income, property income, and other sources. Enter each source as accurately as you can, using your own records.
Enter tax deducted / withheld
Review any withholding certificates or salary slips and record the tax already deducted at source, matched to the correct income.
Enter expenses where applicable
Where relevant, record expense information consistently and keep supporting documentation for anything unusual.
Review assets and liabilities
If a wealth statement applies to you, review what you own and owe. This is used to reconcile your reported financial position.
Review wealth reconciliation
Check that your opening wealth, income, expenses, and closing wealth make sense together. Large unexplained gaps are worth investigating before submission.
Review tax calculation
Check the calculated figures against your own expectations and records. If something looks off, review the relevant section again before proceeding.
Submit
Do a final review of every section, then follow the submission process shown in your IRIS account. Keep a copy of your submission confirmation.
Can I file my tax return myself?
Many taxpayers can prepare their own return if they have a reasonably clear picture of their income, deductions, assets, liabilities, withholding information, and required documentation.
Professional help may be worth considering if you have complicated business structures, multiple income sources, foreign income, significant investments, complex transactions, a notice or dispute, an audit, or unclear legal requirements.
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