No more extension in FBR tax return deadline

The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has firmly decided against extending the income tax return filing date for the current tax year.

Previously, the return submission date was extended to October 31.

FBR Chairman Rashid Mahmood Langrial said on Thursday that the deadline would not be extended further.

The Income Tax Ordinance states that tax returns must be filed by September 30.

Up 77.47 percent, the FBR received 5.129 million income tax returns until October 31 compared to 2.890 million during the same time last year. A total of 6.675 million income tax returns were received in TY2023.

Since taxpayers used to file their returns with penalties until March or even mid-June, the FBR anticipates that the figure will significantly surpass that of the previous year.

The FBR received 1.3 million new return filers who enrolled in the tax system between July 1, 2023 and October 31, according to preliminary figures.

The tax payment with returns for the tax year 2024 was Rs130.60 billion as of October 31st, up 73.80% from Rs75.141 billion during the same period the previous year.

The FBR’s main achievement is that, compared to the previous year, the total number of returns has grown considerably. But the situation of nil-filers took a huge turn for the worst.

For one-time financial transactions or to benefit from reduced tax rates, zero returns are filed in order to be added to the Active Taxpayers List.