FBR extends deadline for filing income tax returns to Oct 15

The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has prolonged the deadline for submitting income tax returns for the tax year 2026 until October 15, 2026. This extension took place on the eve of the original deadline, which would have expired on September 30. The announcement was made via the FBR's X account, stating, "The Federal Board of Revenue is pleased to communicate that the date of filing of income tax return for Tax Year 2026, for the persons who are required to file their returns by September 30, 2026, is hereby extended up to October 15, 2026 in view of the requests from various trade bodies and tax bar associations."

Earlier in the day, the FBR had debunked a circulating media notification that purportedly extended its deadline for filing income tax returns for 2026. The FBR described the claim as "fake." Numerous trade bodies and professionals had lobbied for an extension, citing obstacles such as delays in the issuance of return forms and heavy online traffic making timely filing challenging.

Atif Ikram Sheikh, President of the Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry, had formally requested the government to extend the deadline to October 31 to aid trade, industry, and other tax filers.

The Karachi Tax Bar Association (KTBA) had submitted a detailed letter to the Member Inland Revenue (operations) outlining several issues, including delays in the issuance of draft notifications and ongoing technical glitches in the IRIS portal, which have impeded the smooth filing of tax returns. In the previous tax cycle, the FBR recorded a significant surge in tax return filings, rising from 3.553 million in Tax Year 25 to 5.181 million in Tax Year 26 by September 29, a 45.8 percent increase.

The statutory deadline for filing tax returns is September 30 each year, but it has been extended multiple times in the past, typically until the end of October. Recent extensions have come with higher penalties, making compliance more costly for late filers. The Finance Act 2026-27 has significantly increased these penalties, with the penalty for returning to the active taxpayers list (ATL) for companies rising from Rs20,000 to Rs100,000, and for associations of persons from Rs10,000 to Rs50,000, and for individuals from Rs1,000 to Rs25,000.

Last year, the FBR extended the deadline twice from September 30 to October 15, and subsequently to October 31, despite initially stating it would not do so. These extensions were granted in response to requests from various trade bodies, tax bar associations, and the general public.