Pakistan Moves Tax Return Filing Deadline to October 15 Amid Stakeholder Requests

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has extended the deadline for filing income tax returns for Tax Year 2025-26 by two weeks to October 15, the country’s tax authority announced Wednesday, just hours before the original deadline was set to expire.

The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) had previously set a September 30 deadline for citizens to submit their wealth and asset statements.

The extension comes in response to requests from various trade organizations and tax bar associations, according to the tax regulator.

“The Federal Board of Revenue is pleased to announce that the filing deadline for Income Tax Returns for Tax Year 2026, originally set for September 30, 2026, is hereby extended to October 15, 2026,” the FBR stated in an official notification.

While September 30 remains the statutory deadline for tax return submissions, Pakistan frequently extends this timeline to the end of October annually.

As of Wednesday noon, approximately 5.5 million individuals had filed their tax returns, according to an FBR official speaking to Arab News. This represents a significant increase from the 3.553 million returns filed during the same period last year, Pakistani media reported, citing revenue authorities.

With a population exceeding 240 million, Pakistan continues to struggle with one of the region’s lowest tax-to-GDP ratios and has consistently fallen short of its revenue collection targets.

The government has established a tax revenue target of Rs15.26 trillion ($54.8 billion) for the current fiscal year, marking an 8.2 percent increase from the previous year that concluded in June.

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