FPCCI Demands One-Month Extension In Income Tax Return Filing Deadline To October 31.
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✧ GENERATE BRIEFING
FPCCI President Atif Ikram Sheikh urges FBR to extend the income tax return deadline to October 31, 2026, citing IRIS portal crashes and complex tax requirements. The President of the Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FPCCI), Atif Ikram Sheikh, has made an urgent formal appeal to the Federal Government and the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) to grant a one-month extension—moving the deadline from September 30 to October 31, 2026—for filing annual income tax returns.The apex trade body stressed that the extension is a practical necessity due to severe technical bottlenecks on the FBR's IRIS portal, which has suffered from heavy traffic, continuous lagging, and system crashes. FPCCI highlighted that compounding macroeconomic pressures, complex tax code amendments, and rigid timelines risk pushing legitimate businesses and SMEs into non-filer categories through no fault of their own, undermining broader documentation and revenue-collection goals.
Mr. Atif Ikram Sheikh, President of the Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FPCCI), has formally urged the Federal Government and the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) to extend the deadline for filing income tax returns by one month moving the cutoff date to October 31, 2026 to facilitate trade, industry, and general tax filers.
The apex trade body emphasized that this extension is not a concession, but a practical necessity to ensure maximum tax compliance, broaden the tax base, and alleviate the immense pressure currently faced by the business community, small and medium enterprises (SMEs), and individual taxpayers.
Systemic Bottlenecks and IRIS Portal Failures
Mr. Atif Ikram Sheikh highlighted that as the September 30 deadline approaches, taxpayers and tax practitioners are facing severe systemic bottlenecks. The FBR’s IRIS portal has been experiencing frequent slowdowns, glitches, and downtimes due to heavy national traffic. These technical disruptions are preventing thousands of willing taxpayers from submitting their returns and wealth statements accurately and on time.
The business community of Pakistan remains fully committed to fulfilling its national duty and contributing to the national exchequer. However, penalizing them for systemic inefficiencies and a highly congested digital infrastructure is deeply counterproductive.
Key Grounds for the Demanded Extension
- Technical Instability: Constant lagging and crashing of the IRIS system during peak hours make it nearly impossible for tax lawyers, chartered accountants, and individual business owners to process filings efficiently.
- Complex Legislative Amendments: Recent technical amendments and new reporting requirements in the tax code have created widespread confusion, requiring additional time to ensure accurate wealth reconciliations.
- Macroeconomic Pressures: High inflation and surging operational costs have stretched the administrative capacities of SMEs, many of whom are struggling to finalize financial audits within a rigid timeframe.
Safeguarding Active Taxpayer Status
The FPCCI stressed that granting this extension directly supports the government’s primary objective of increasing active filers. Rushing the process will inevitably result in a lower volume of submissions, whereas an extended window will yield higher revenue collection and wider, more accurate compliance.
Mr. Atif Ikram Sheikh has appealed directly to the Prime Minister of Pakistan, the Minister for Finance and Revenue, and the Chairman of the FBR to take immediate cognizance of ground realities, warning that failure to extend the deadline risks forcing legitimate businesses into the non-filer category through administrative failure.
