The Federal Board of Revenue said on September 30 that a circular circulating online and claiming an extension of the Tax Year 2026 income-tax return deadline was fake.
The authority said it had not issued the document. At the time of the clarification, its published filing timetable continued to show September 30 as the deadline for individuals and associations of persons.
Companies with a special tax year also had a September 30 date under FBR guidance, while companies generally faced a December 31 deadline.
Why the warning mattered
The purported extension circulated as taxpayers were trying to complete their returns before the deadline.
Messages shared on social media can resemble official notices, but an unauthenticated document does not change a legal filing requirement.
Taxpayers were advised to rely on the FBR’s official channels for any announcement.
Trade bodies had separately requested more time. The Pakistan Chemicals and Dyes Merchants Association cited difficulties involving the IRIS filing system when seeking a one-month extension.
A request from a business association, however, is not the same as an extension formally issued by the tax authority.
What happened afterwards?
The FBR subsequently granted a genuine extension until October 15 for taxpayers whose returns were due on September 30.
That later decision does not make the earlier circulating document authentic. The authority’s September 30 warning concerned the particular circular it said it had not issued.
The distinction is useful for taxpayers reviewing reports from the final filing day: the original document was rejected, and an official extension followed separately.
For any filing deadline, the safest reference remains the latest notice published through recognised FBR channels.