Tax bar associations, chambers, federations and trade bodies across Pakistan have urged Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) Chairman Rashid Mahmood Langrial to extend the deadline for filing income tax returns for Tax Year 2026, citing technical problems with the IRIS portal, delayed notification of the return form and additional disclosure requirements introduced in the filing process. The calls for an extension come shortly before the September 30 statutory deadline, with tax practitioners reporting difficulties in submitting returns through the FBR’s online system.
The requests have been submitted by several tax bodies, including the Pakistan Tax Bar Association (PTBA), Gujrat Tax Bar Association, Lahore Tax Bar Association and Rawalpindi Tax Bar Association, along with associations from Multan and other parts of the country. Tax practitioners have also raised concerns about the number of returns filed so far, with Asif S Kasbati, Senior Member of the ICAP Fiscal Laws Committee, stating that around 3 million returns had been filed, compared with an expected figure of 8 million or more based on the historical number of non-trader returns.
Kasbati suggested that NTN holders should be provided with an additional filing period of at least one month. He said an extension could help avoid a large number of individual extension applications and allow taxpayers to complete their returns after addressing technical issues affecting the filing system. He also acknowledged the role of tax bar associations in identifying problems with the return forms and issues encountered while using the IRIS portal.
Tax lawyer Waheed Shahzad Butt also highlighted difficulties faced by taxpayers using the system and warned that the matter could be taken up with the Federal Tax Ombudsman (FTO). According to Butt, changes to the wealth statement had resulted in the system requiring taxpayers to provide reasons for exemption from capital gains tax. He also pointed to login problems, with taxpayers receiving messages indicating that their IRIS accounts had been temporarily locked because of exceeded login attempts.
The PTBA has separately requested that the FBR extend the filing deadline for Tax Year 2026 until December 3, 2026. In a letter dated September 26, 2026, PTBA President Sheikh Ahsan Ul Haq and General Secretary Tahir Mahmood Butt told the FBR chairman that the delay in notifying the prescribed return format, technical issues with IRIS and extensive additional disclosure requirements had reduced the time available to taxpayers and tax practitioners to complete the filing process.
According to the PTBA, Rule 34A of the Income Tax Rules, 2002 requires the prescribed Return of Total Income format for Tax Year 2026 to be uploaded on the IRIS portal by January 7, 2026, so that suggestions and observations could be invited. The final return was required to be notified by January 31, 2026. The association said, however, that the prescribed return format was uploaded on the IRIS portal on July 27, 2026, significantly later than the statutory timeline.
The tax bar also raised concerns about the contents of the return form, particularly the Wealth Statement, which introduced additional disclosure requirements. These included updating information relating to immovable properties and providing International Bank Account Numbers (IBANs) for bank accounts. The PTBA said that updating property information was a detailed and time-consuming process because taxpayers needed to compile, verify and reconcile the relevant information before submitting accurate returns.
The association further said technical difficulties affecting the IRIS portal had compounded the challenges created by changes to the return requirements. According to the PTBA, the combination of system problems and additional disclosures had caused difficulties for both taxpayers and tax practitioners and reduced the practical time available for completing statutory compliance.
The PTBA said it and its affiliated District Tax Bar Associations had raised the technical problems with the relevant authorities, including the PRAL team through the Director General, Domain Team and FBR officials. The tax body said these efforts were aimed at facilitating the identification and rectification of glitches affecting the filing process before the deadline.
Another concern raised by the PTBA relates to the timing of the Gazette notification prescribing the Return of Total Income for Tax Year 2026. The association said the notification was issued on September 2, 2026, rather than July 1, 2026, which it said was the date required under the relevant statutory provisions. It argued that the delayed notification affected the period available to taxpayers to comply with the filing requirements.
The PTBA also referred to Section 118(2)(b) of the Income Tax Ordinance, 2001, under which income tax returns are ordinarily required to be furnished by September 30, 2026. The association argued that the statutory framework, when considered alongside the prescribed period following notification of the return form, supports providing taxpayers with a 92-day compliance period.
Based on the September 2 Gazette notification, the PTBA calculated that the 92-day period would end on December 3, 2026. It therefore argued that requiring taxpayers to submit their returns by September 30 would shorten the period contemplated under the relevant statutory framework. The association has consequently asked the FBR chairman to extend the Tax Year 2026 filing deadline to December 3, 2026, giving taxpayers and tax practitioners additional time to address the technical and procedural issues and complete their statutory obligations.
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