FPCCI urges government to extend tax return filing deadline to October 31

The Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI) urged the federal government and the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) to extend the deadline for filing income tax returns by one month. This extension would move the filing deadline to 31 October 2026. Atif Ikram Sheikh, President of the FPCCI, highlighted that taxpayers and tax practitioners face severe systemic bottlenecks as the September 30 deadline nears. The FBR’s IRIS portal has shown frequent slowdowns, glitches, and downtimes due to heavy national traffic.
Sheikh stated that a one-month extension would offer necessary breathing space for taxpayers to reconcile accounts, navigate tax code complexities, and file returns without system crashes. Furthermore, ongoing macroeconomic challenges, including high inflation and surging operational costs, have strained the administrative capacities of SMEs. The FPCCI warned that failing to extend the deadline might push many legitimate businesses into the non-filer category, leading to unwarranted penalties.































