What is the last date for salaried people to file their return, and what is the penalty for filing late?

What is the due date?

Section 118(3)(a) of the Income Tax Ordinance, 2001 deals with “a return required to be filed through e-portal in the case of a salaried individual”. It fixes the date as the 30th day of September next following the end of the tax year. Clause (b) sets the same 30 September date for any other person who is not a company.

The tax year runs from 1 July to 30 June. So:

Tax year	Income period	Return due
2026	1 July 2025 to 30 June 2026	30 September 2026
2027	1 July 2026 to 30 June 2027	30 September 2027

A footnote in the consolidated text records that the Finance Act, 2019 changed the salaried date from 31 August to 30 September.

Can the deadline be extended?

Section 119 lets a person apply in writing to the Commissioner for more time. Three conditions apply:

• Timing. Section 119(2) says the application “shall be made by the due date”, so it must be made on or before 30 September.
• Reason. Section 119(3) lists absence from Pakistan, sickness or other misadventure, or any other reasonable cause.
• Length. Section 119(4) says an extension “should not exceed fifteen days” unless exceptional circumstances justify longer. Its proviso says that where the Commissioner has not granted an extension, the Chief Commissioner may, on the taxpayer’s application, grant an extension or further extension of up to fifteen days, again unless exceptional circumstances justify more.

Section 119(6) adds that an extension does not change the due date for payment of tax for the purpose of default surcharge. An extension moves the filing date, not the payment date.

What is the penalty for filing late?

Section 182(1) applies a Table of offences and penalties. Serial 1 covers a person who “fails to furnish a return of income as required under section 114 within the due date”. The penalty is the higher of:

• (a) 0.1% of the tax payable for that tax year for each day of default; or
• (b) Rs. 1,000 for each day of default.

Three provisos then adjust the figure:

Rule	What the Table says
Minimum	Rs. 10,000 for an individual having seventy-five percent or more income from salary; Rs. 50,000 in all other cases
Maximum	Not more than two hundred percent of tax payable in the tax year
Early filing relief	Reduced by 75%, 50% and 25% if the return is filed within one, two and three months after the due date or extended due date

The Explanation to serial 1, substituted by the Finance Act, 2026, defines “tax payable” as the higher of the tax on the assessed taxable income, or the tax payable for the immediately preceding tax year for which a return was duly filed.

Worked example (illustrative figures)

The names and salaries are made up. The tax is worked out from the tax year 2027 salary table, and the penalty from serial 1 of the section 182 Table. Tax year 2027 returns are due 30 September 2027.

Farhan, Lahore, salary Rs. 1,800,000, tax payable Rs. 72,000

Tax: Rs. 6,000 + 11% x (Rs. 1,800,000 - Rs. 1,200,000) = Rs. 6,000 + Rs. 66,000 = Rs. 72,000.

Case 1: files on 20 October 2027 (20 days late)

• (a) 0.1% x Rs. 72,000 = Rs. 72 a day, x 20 = Rs. 1,440
• (b) Rs. 1,000 x 20 = Rs. 20,000
• Higher figure: Rs. 20,000. Cap: 200% x Rs. 72,000 = Rs. 144,000, not reached
• Filed within one month, so reduced by 75%: Rs. 20,000 x 25% = Rs. 5,000

The Table does not say whether the Rs. 10,000 minimum is applied before or after the 75% reduction. Read one way, the penalty is Rs. 5,000; read the other way, it is Rs. 10,000. The law does not resolve this.

Case 2: files on 8 January 2028 (100 days late)

• Days: October 31 + November 30 + December 31 + January 8 = 100
• (b) Rs. 1,000 x 100 = Rs. 100,000, higher than (a) Rs. 7,200
• More than three months after the due date, so no reduction
• Below the Rs. 144,000 cap, so the penalty is Rs. 100,000

Sana, Karachi, salary Rs. 9,600,000, tax payable Rs. 2,334,000

Tax: Rs. 1,424,000 + 35% x (Rs. 9,600,000 - Rs. 7,000,000) = Rs. 1,424,000 + Rs. 910,000 = Rs. 2,334,000.

Files on 19 November 2027 (50 days late)

• (a) 0.1% x Rs. 2,334,000 = Rs. 2,334 a day, x 50 = Rs. 116,700
• (b) Rs. 1,000 x 50 = Rs. 50,000
• Higher figure: Rs. 116,700
• Filed after one month but within two months, so reduced by 50%: Rs. 58,350

For a high earner the percentage limb overtakes the Rs. 1,000 a day limb, so each day costs more.

What if I had an extension?

The relief bands run from “the due date or extended due date”. If the Commissioner extended Farhan’s date by fifteen days to 15 October 2027 and he filed on 20 October, he would be 5 days late, not 20.

Common mistakes

• “The penalty is only Rs. 1,000 a day.” It is the higher of that figure and 0.1% of tax payable a day. For anyone whose tax payable exceeds Rs. 1,000,000, the percentage limb is larger.
• “No tax is due this year, so no penalty.” The Explanation measures tax payable as the higher of this year’s tax and the tax payable for the last year a return was duly filed, so last year’s figure can set the penalty.
• “I can ask for an extension in October.” Section 119(2) requires the application by the due date.

What to check in the official text

Read section 118(3), section 119 in full, and serial 1 of the Table in section 182(1). The Table is printed across several pages of the source PDF with its footnotes showing earlier versions, including the Explanation substituted by the Finance Act, 2026. Any general extension of the filing date announced by the Board for a particular year is issued separately and is not reproduced here.