Pakistan's FBR moves the 2026 tax return deadline to 31 October

Pakistan's FBR moves the 2026 tax return deadline to 31 October

15 October 2026: Pakistan's Federal Board of Revenue has extended the deadline for income tax returns for tax year 2026 to 31 October, the second extension of the season. It applies to everyone whose returns were due by 30 September and whose date had already been pushed to 15 October, the extension we reported earlier.

What the notification says

The board acted under Section 214A of the Income Tax Ordinance, 2001, which lets it extend filing dates. Dawn quotes the notification as granting the extension "in view of requests received from various trade bodies and tax bar associations". The Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry had asked for 31 October from the start, and the Karachi Tax Bar Association had written to the board's Member Inland Revenue (Operations) about late draft notifications and repeated faults in IRIS, the online filing portal.

The notification names only those filers. It says nothing about returns and statements with other due dates, so those dates stand as they were.

How filing has gone this year

Figures Dawn obtained show 6.71 million returns filed by 14 October, against 4.99 million at the same point last year, a rise of about 34%. Tax paid with returns reached Rs66.81 billion, about 15% more than last year's Rs58.29 billion. Non-salaried filers, a group that covers traders, shopkeepers, professionals and the self-employed, drove most of the increase, up 46% to 4.45 million, while salaried returns rose 16% to 2.18 million. ProPakistani puts the total at 6.9 million. The first deadline had already brought a jump: 5.76 million returns by 30 September, against 3.98 million a year earlier, about 45% more.

For firms filing on clients' behalf

Accountants and tax practices now have until the end of the month for clients who had not filed. The trade bodies' complaints were about IRIS itself, so leaving filings to the last days repeats the risk that led to two extensions. Firms that use practice software to track filing status will want the new date in their client reminders. Our tax practice management software category lists 16 products.

Update, 22 October 2026: The FBR's Circular No. 04 of 2026-27, dated 15 October and published on its website, extends the date for filing income tax returns for tax year 2026 "upto 31st October, 2026" under section 214A, citing requests from trade bodies and tax bar associations.

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Sources

• Dawn: FBR extends deadline for filing income tax returns to Oct 31 (quotes the FBR notification), 15 October 2026
• ProPakistani: FBR extends 2026 tax return deadline again, 15 October 2026
• FBR: Circular No. 04 of 2026-27, extension of date for filing income tax returns - 15 October 2026