ISLAMABAD — The Federal Board of Revenue extended the Tax Year 2026 income-tax return deadline to October 15, giving affected taxpayers another 15 days beyond the original September 30 date.
The decision applies to taxpayers whose returns were due on September 30. FBR said it acted after requests from trade bodies and tax bar associations, using its powers under Section 214A of the Income Tax Ordinance, 2001.
An official extension after a false circular
The announcement followed confusion on September 30, when a purported deadline-extension circular circulated online.
The FBR rejected that earlier document as fake. It subsequently issued its own formal extension.
These were separate developments: the rejection of an unauthorised notice did not prevent the authority from extending the deadline later.
Taxpayers should therefore distinguish between the false circular and the official decision setting October 15 as the revised date.
Filing numbers rise
According to figures reported after the original deadline, the FBR had received 5.767 million returns by midnight on September 30.
That compared with approximately 3.980 million returns during the corresponding period a year earlier, an increase of about 45%.
The figures show stronger filing activity at that point, although they do not by themselves establish how many taxpayers ultimately complied during the extended period.
Who is covered?
The extension applies to people whose Tax Year 2026 returns were originally due on September 30. It should not be assumed to change deadlines for every company or every type of tax return.
Affected taxpayers can use the additional time to reconcile income records, tax deductions and any required wealth statements before submitting through the IRIS portal.
FBR has been seeking to expand the documented tax base, and timely filing remains a central part of that effort.
For taxpayers, the practical message is to rely on the authority’s official notices and complete the return within the revised deadline.