• Technical disruptions are preventing thousands of willing taxpayers from submitting their returns accurately and on time, says the trade body Published September 28, 2026 Updated about 16 hours ago By BR Web Desk Atif Ikram Sheikh, President of the Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FPCCI), has formally urged the 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 other tax filers. According to a statement released on Monday, the apex trade body emphasised 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. 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, he added. Sheikh explained that the business community of Pakistan remains committed to fulfilling its national duty and contributing to the national exchequer. However, penalising them for systemic inefficiencies and a highly congested and insufficient digital infrastructure is deeply unfair. The FPCCI leadership outlined several critical reasons for the demanded extension, pointing first to the severe instability within the FBR’s digital infrastructure. Constant lagging and crashing of the IRIS system during peak hours have made it nearly impossible for tax lawyers, chartered accountants, and individual business owners to process filings efficiently. FPCCI…