SRO 835(I)/2026 — New Income Tax Return Format Now Live on IRIS 2.0
FBR has changed the prescribed return form for Tax Year 2026. Here is what the law says, what it means for you, and what you must do before 30 September 2026.
Missing this date triggers an automatic 0.1% daily surcharge under Section 182, Income Tax Ordinance 2001.
Income Tax in Pakistan
This update falls under Income Tax — specifically the annual compliance obligations of taxpayers registered with FBR in Pakistan.
Your Annual Filing Obligation
Filing of the Annual Return of Income — the statutory obligation every eligible taxpayer must fulfil each year to remain on the Active Taxpayers List (ATL).
The New IRIS 2.0 Return Format
The prescribed form and format of the Return of Income — specifically the version used through the IRIS 2.0 electronic portal for Tax Year 2026.
The Law
| Statute | Income Tax Ordinance, 2001 |
| Primary Section | Section 114 — Obligation to Furnish Return of Income |
| Rule-Making Power | Section 237 — Power of FBR to make Rules |
| Subordinate Rules | Income Tax Rules, 2002 — Rule 34 (Form of Return of Income) |
| Notification | SRO 835(I)/2026 |
| Published | Official Gazette of Pakistan, May 2026 |
| Effective From | Tax Year 2026 (returns filed from July 2026) |
“The Federal Board of Revenue, in exercise of powers conferred under Section 237 of the Income Tax Ordinance, 2001, hereby amends the Income Tax Rules, 2002, to prescribe the revised form of Return of Income for Tax Year 2026. All persons required to file under Section 114 shall use the updated prescribed form, available electronically through IRIS 2.0.”
What This Actually Means for You
Think of it this way. Every year your employer uses a specific version of a salary slip. If the format changes, the old version is no longer accepted by HR. FBR has done exactly this with your tax return — they have updated the form, and the old version is rejected by IRIS 2.0.
The new 2026 return form includes mandatory declaration fields that were previously optional or absent entirely. Even if your answer to each field is zero, you must explicitly declare it. A blank field is treated as a defective return — not a zero return.
You are a salaried employee earning PKR 1.2 million per year. You open IRIS 2.0 to file your Tax Year 2026 return. The updated form now requires you to declare:
- Foreign remittances received during the year (even if nil)
- Rental income or any property-linked receipts (even if nil)
- Freelance or digital income (even if nil)
- Any assets held outside Pakistan
If you earned zero from all of the above, you write zero. You do not leave the field empty.
Why FBR Did This
FBR’s objective is to close the documentation gap on unreported income. With this updated form, every filer is now required to actively declare — or explicitly deny — income from sources that were previously easy to omit.
The data collected feeds directly into FBR’s cross-matching system, where your declared income is compared against bank records, CNIC-linked transactions, and property registry data. More complete declarations mean FBR can identify undisclosed wealth with far greater precision and legal defensibility.
What This Protects You From
Filing the correct, updated return on time protects you from three specific risks:
- Return rejection — IRIS 2.0 will reject submissions using the old form format, leaving you technically a non-filer despite your effort
- Penalty under Section 182 — late or defective filing attracts 0.1% of tax payable per day, plus a minimum penalty of PKR 40,000 for certain categories
- Audit flag — a gap between your declaration and FBR’s third-party data triggers an automated audit notice — even if you filed correctly last year
Not sure which fields apply to your situation? Message us before you file — we’ll tell you exactly what to declare.
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