The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has granted a 14-day extension for submitting income tax returns, pushing the deadline to October 14.
The decision emerged from a special meeting led by FBR Chairman Rashid Mahmood Langrial, as the initial deadline was set to expire on September 30.
Officials have issued a notification allowing citizens to submit their income tax returns by the new deadline. Additionally, the FBR chairman received updates during the meeting about tax collections for September, learning that the revenue from income tax returns reached Rs 1,106 billion, exceeding the target of Rs 1,098 billion.
FBR sources revealed that approximately 2.9 million taxpayers had filed their returns by September 28, compared to 1.4 million by the same date last year.
Read: FBR Confirms No Extension for 2024 Income Tax Return Deadline
The Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI) had previously requested a 30-day extension for filing returns, citing difficulties due to the FBR’s flawed system, which often delays submissions due to technical issues.
FPCCI President Atif Ikram Sheikh commented on the need for improvements in the FBR’s tax system to mitigate its rigidity and the technical shortcomings of its online platform, which complicate the tax filing process for the average citizen. He also noted that the system’s frequent delays and downtimes require urgent attention.
Sheikh found it disappointing that only 2.6 million taxpayers have filed returns so far. He highlighted that since July 1st, 2023, over 844,000 new taxpayers have joined the tax net. He argued that extending the filing deadline could potentially increase the total number of filers to seven million.
