ISLAMABAD: Thousands of taxpayers registered under the Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) Inland Revenue Department remain unable to file their Tax Year 2026 income tax returns as the return filing process has yet to be enabled on the Federal Board of Revenue’s (FBR) IRIS portal.
Taxpayers attempting to access the Return of Income (114(1)) form are being shown the following system message:
“Task you have selected is not valid for this tax period or not yet enabled by AJK.”
The error prevents taxpayers from creating or submitting their Tax Year 2026 returns despite the return forms being available on the IRIS system.
The problem comes at a particularly difficult time for AJK residents. Due to the ongoing protests and the resulting internet blackout across large parts of Azad Jammu and Kashmir, many taxpayers have already been unable to access online government services. Even those who regain internet access are still unable to file their returns because the AJK authorities have not yet enabled the filing process on the IRIS portal.
Tax practitioners say the combination of internet disruptions and the unavailability of the filing facility has effectively deprived taxpayers of any practical opportunity to comply with their legal obligations.
Although AJK taxpayers use the same IRIS platform linked with the Federal Board of Revenue, they depend on the AJK government to activate the return filing process each tax year. Until this backend activation is completed, the system will not allow to even open draft forms.
The situation has raised concerns over filing deadlines. Tax experts have urged the AJK government and the FBR to take these extraordinary circumstances into account while finalizing the due dates for Tax Year 2026. They argue that taxpayers should not be penalized for delays caused by government-controlled systems or internet restrictions beyond their control.
The concern is even greater this year because the Finance Act has significantly increased the penalty for late filing of income tax returns. Individual taxpayers who fail to file within the prescribed time can now face a penalty of Rs. 25,000, making timely access to the filing system more critical than ever.
Tax professionals have warned that if the filing facility continues to remain unavailable while statutory deadlines remain unchanged, imposing late filing penalties on AJK taxpayers would raise serious questions of fairness and legality, as taxpayers cannot be expected to comply with obligations when the government itself has not provided the necessary access to do so.
They have called upon the AJK Inland Revenue Department to immediately enable Tax Year 2026 return filing on the IRIS portal and ensure that taxpayers are given adequate time to meet their obligations once the system becomes fully operational.
