ISLAMABAD – In surprising late-night move, Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) extended deadline for filing income tax returns for 2025, hours before the original September 30 date was set to expire.
Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) takes U-Turn in the deadline for filing income tax returns for Tax Year 2025, pushing it to October 15 from earlier September 30 cutoff.
The apex tax authority maintained tough stance, insisting that no extension would be entertained. Taxpayers had been repeatedly urged to file returns by September 30, while the FBR dismissed all speculation about a deadline shift. However, mounting pressure from trade associations, tax bar councils, and the general public forced the board to walk back its rigid position.
The official statement confirmed that the extension was granted under Section 214A of the Income Tax Ordinance, 2001, with the FBR acknowledging that the decision directly responded to broad-based appeals.
This U-turn came only a day after the board rejected as “false and misleading” the social media buzz about a possible extension. The authority also accused certain groups of using the recent floods to push for a delay, while denying claims of technical slowdowns in the Integrated Risk Information System (Iris).
The revenue department is grappling with major revenue shortfall. For the first quarter of the fiscal year 2025-26 (July to September), the authority collected Rs2,886 billion, falling Rs197 billion short of the assigned target of Rs3,083 billion.
The shortfall was particularly evident in September 2025, when the FBR collected less than expected, missing its Rs1,384 billion monthly target by Rs154 billion.
Officials noted, however, that the figures reported so far are provisional. Once final adjustments are made, the revenue numbers may increase slightly, offering the possibility of a modest improvement.
