ISLAMABAD(National Times)- The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) on Wednesday extended the cutoff date for filing income tax returns for 2026 to Oct 15, hours before the deadline was set to expire by the end of Sept 30.

The notification posted on the FBR’s X account, said: “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 refuted a notification circulating in the media claiming that it had extended its deadline to file income tax returns for 2026, terming it “fake”.

Trade bodies and professionals had sought an extension of the deadline, citing delays in the issuance of return forms and heavy online traffic as major hurdles in timely filing.

Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry President Atif Ikram Sheikh had also formally urged the government to extend the deadline for filing income tax returns to Oct 31 to facilitate trade, industry, and other tax filers.

The Karachi Tax Bar Association (KTBA) had submitted a five-page letter to the Member Inland Revenue (operations), highlighting several issues, including delays in the issuance of draft notifications and persistent technical glitches in the IRIS portal, which hinder the smooth filing of tax returns.

In the previous cycle, the FBR reported an overwhelming response, with overall tax return filings rising from 3.553 million in TY25 to 5.181m in TY26 until Sept 29 — an increase of 45.8 per cent.

The statutory deadline for filing tax returns is Sept 30 each year. However, historically, the date has been extended two to three times, often until the end of October.

In recent years, extensions were granted with only minor penalties, but the latest budget has substantially increased these charges, making compliance costlier for late filers.

Under the Finance Act 2026-27, the penalty for returning to the active taxpayers list (ATL) has been raised fivefold for companies to Rs100,000 from Rs20,000. It was also increased from Rs10,000 to Rs50,000 for associations of persons, and from Rs1,000 to Rs25,000 for individuals.

Last year, the FBR extended the deadline twice from Sept 30 to Oct 15 and subsequently to Oct 31 despite earlier saying it would not do so. These extensions were granted in response to requests made by various trade bodies, tax bar associations, and the general public.