The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has extended the deadline for filing income tax returns for Tax Year 2026.
What is the new deadline?
The new deadline is October 15, 2026. The earlier deadline was September 30, 2026.
The extension gives taxpayers an extra 15 days to complete and submit their tax returns.
FBR announces new deadline
The FBR announced the extension through Circular No. 3 of 2026-27.
The decision came after trade bodies and tax bar associations requested more time for taxpayers. They said many people needed additional time to complete the filing process.
Under the new deadline, taxpayers who were required to file their returns by September 30 can now submit them by October 15.
Extra time for taxpayers
The extension will give taxpayers more time to collect the required information and complete their paperwork.
It will also help people who were unable to finish their returns before the original deadline.
The FBR has granted the extension under Section 214A of the Income Tax Ordinance, 2001.
Taxpayers covered by the extension should use the extra time to complete and submit their Tax Year 2026 returns before the new deadline.
What penalty could late filers face?
According to FBR sources, the late-filer category will be discontinued from October 1.
This means that the taxpayers who fail to submit their returns by September 30 will be treated as non-filers and will be subject to the applicable penalties.
Individuals who fail to file their income tax returns could face a penalty of up to Rs25,000, compared with the existing penalty of Rs1,000.
For associations of persons (AOPs), the penalty will increase from Rs10,000 to Rs50,000, while companies could face a penalty of Rs100,000, up from Rs20,000.
Fake circular before
Before this, FBR warned taxpayers about a fake circular being shared online about the income tax return deadline for Tax Year 2026 on Wednesday.
The FBR said it did not issue any circular to extend the deadline for filing income tax returns.
Taking to the social media platform X, formerly Twitter, FBR posted, “The circular circulating in the media regarding the extension of the date for submitting income tax returns for the tax year 2026 is fake.”
“No such circular has been issued by the FBR,” the post added.
