Key Takeaways
- The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has extended the tax return filing deadline for Tax Year 2026 to October 31, 2026.
- This is the second extension, following the previous deadline of October 15, 2026.
- Taxpayers, particularly traders and small businesses, had requested additional time to comply with new return forms and technical issues.
The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has further extended the deadline for filing income tax returns for Tax Year 2026 to October 31, 2026, providing taxpayers with an additional two weeks to submit their returns.
This extension comes after the FBR had previously extended the deadline from September 30 to October 15, 2026, in response to requests from various trade bodies and tax bar associations.
The extension is aimed at facilitating compliance and enabling taxpayers to fulfill their filing requirements, especially those facing difficulties due to the introduction of new return forms and additional disclosure requirements.
Fazal Faraz, a tax expert from Islamabad-Rawalpindi, stated that the FBR was bound to extend the date for filing of income tax returns up to December 2026, given the late notification of the final return form on September 2, 2026.
Karachi’s Korangi Association of Trade and Industry (KATI) president Sheikh Umer Rehan urged the government and the FBR to extend the deadline for filing income tax returns by another month, citing persistent technical glitches and slow processing on the FBR’s online IRIS portal.
President of the Hyderabad Chamber of Small Traders and Small Industry (HCSTSI) Nadeem Ahmed Siddiqui, along with senior vice president Muhammad Fahad Mian and vice president Irfan Arbiani, jointly urged the Finance Minister Aurangzeb and the FBR chairman to extend the deadline.
In their joint statement, the office-bearers highlighted that despite the earlier extension, taxpayers, particularly traders, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), and tax consultants, continued to face difficulties due to the introduction of new return forms, additional disclosure requirements, wealth statement reconciliation, and technical issues with the IRIS portal.
The IRIS portal, Pakistan’s official digital tax management system operated by the FBR, has been a source of concern for many taxpayers, with ongoing technical issues affecting the ease of filing returns.
This extension is being granted in view of the requests received from various trade bodies and tax bar associations.
FBR notification, FBR
Despite the earlier extension, taxpayers, particularly traders, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), and tax consultants, had continued to face difficulties.
Nadeem Ahmed Siddiqui, Muhammad Fahad Mian, and Irfan Arbiani, HCSTSI office-bearers
