FBR dismisses fake circular on tax return deadline extension

The Federal Board of Revenue on Tuesday dismissed as fake a circular circulating on social media that claimed the deadline for filing income tax returns for tax year 2026 had been extended. "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 authority said in a post on a social media platform.

The clarification followed a request from the Pakistan Chemicals & Dyes Merchants Association, which a day earlier urged the FBR to extend by one month the deadline for filing returns for the tax period ending September 30, 2026. In a letter addressed to FBR Chairman Rashid Mehmood Langrial, association chairman Salim Valimuhammad said tax practitioners and taxpayers were facing serious difficulties in transmitting their returns within the stipulated deadline because of continued technical problems with the IRIS portal, according to the association. The FBR's statement did not address that request.

The authority said it has so far received around 4.7 million income tax returns for tax year 2026, against 3.2 million returns received during the corresponding period of the previous fiscal year. The number filed to date is around 1.52 million higher than last year's figure, according to the FBR.

The exchange matters for Pakistan's filing season, when taxpayers and practitioners depend on the IRIS portal to submit returns ahead of the statutory deadline. The FBR has not said whether it will act on the association's request, and its statement was limited to denying that an extension circular had been issued.