ISLAMABAD: The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has further extended the date for filing income tax returns for 2026 to Oct 31.

The notification, posted on the FBR’s X account, said: “In exercise of the powers conferred under Section 214A of the Income Tax Ordinance, 2001, the Federal Board of Revenue is pleased to further extend the date of filing of income tax returns for tax year 2026 upto October 31, 2026, in the case of persons who were required to file their returns by September 30, 2026, and whose date of filing had earlier been extended up to October 15, 2026.”

It added that the deadline had been extended “in view of requests received from various trade bodies and tax bar associations”.

Previously, the board had extended the date to Oct 15, from the original deadline of Sept 30.

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. However, initially the deadline had been extended till Oct 15.

The Karachi Tax Bar Association (KTBA) had also 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.

The total returns filed until Oct 14 had reached to 6.71 million against 4.99m returns filed during the corresponding period last tax year, according to official data available with Dawn — an increase of 34.38 per cent. Until Sept 30, the total number of returns filed was 5.76m compared with 3.98m filed during the corresponding period last year, showing an increase of around 45 per cent.

Total tax paid with returns till Oct 14 stood at Rs66.81 billion, about 14.61pc more than last year’s Rs58.29bn.

In 2026, returns filed by non-salaried individuals, a category that covers traders, shopkeepers, professionals and the self-employed individuals, rose by 46.35pc, from 3.04m to 4.45m.

Returns by salaried individuals rose by 16.16pc to 2.18m, from 1.88m in the corresponding period last year.