FBR sets new deadline for July 2025 sales tax return filing

ISLAMABAD: The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has once again extended the deadline for filing monthly sales tax and federal excise returns, this time for the tax period of July 2025.

In a notification issued on Friday, the FBR announced that taxpayers will now be able to file their July returns until August 26, 2025. The deadline, which was earlier set for August 18, has been pushed forward by eight days. However, the condition remains that taxpayers must have deposited their due sales tax liability within the original due date.

Previous extensions

This is the second consecutive month in which the FBR has granted an extension. In July, the tax authority had already extended the deadline for June 2025 returns to August 4 after it received multiple requests from taxpayers and tax bodies. That extension also carried the same condition regarding timely deposit of liabilities.

The Karachi Tax Bar Association (KTBA) had earlier urged the FBR to allow more time for filing June returns, citing persistent issues with the IRIS online portal. According to the association, taxpayers and consultants faced frequent login failures and disruptions, which made compliance difficult.

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The KTBA also raised concerns over the authentication system that restricts QR codes for login verification to a single registered mobile number.

The tax bar argued that this created barriers for overseas taxpayers and for corporate entities where the registered number is often linked to a director or an employee who may be unavailable during deadlines. Authorised intermediaries, such as accountants and tax consultants, also faced hurdles in filing returns on behalf of clients despite holding legal authorisation.

Compliance challenges remain

While the FBR has not mentioned technical glitches as the reason for the fresh extension, the recent pattern indicates that compliance pressures continue to weigh on taxpayers. For now, the extension provides some relief to businesses as they navigate the filing process, though calls for long-term fixes to the IRIS system are likely to persist.

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