Pranav B Prem

The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has officially extended the due dates for furnishing Income Tax Returns (ITR) and tax audit reports for the Assessment Year (A.Y.) 2025–26. This extension comes as a relief to taxpayers, auditors, and businesses facing difficulties in meeting the earlier deadlines due to compliance workloads and technical challenges. According to the CBDT’s announcement, the due date for submitting audit reports has been extended to November 10, 2025, while the deadline for filing Income Tax Returns has been pushed to December 10, 2025. The earlier deadlines were October 31, 2025, and November 30, 2025, respectively.

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Section 139(1) of the Income Tax Act, 1961 mandates the timely filing of income tax returns by individuals and entities whose accounts are required to be audited. The CBDT stated in its press release that, “The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has decided to extend the due date of furnishing of Return of Income under sub-section (1) of Section 139 of the Income Tax Act for the Assessment Year 2025–26, which is 31st October 2025 in the case of assessees referred in clause (a) of Explanation 2 to sub-section (1) of Section 139 of the Act, to 10th December 2025.”

Further, the due date for furnishing audit reports under Explanation 2 to sub-section (1) of Section 139, originally due on September 30, 2025, and later extended to October 31, 2025, has now been further extended to November 10, 2025. This provides additional time for tax professionals to complete statutory audits and comply with reporting requirements under the Income Tax Act.

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The press release also clarified that a formal notification to give effect to these changes will be issued separately by the CBDT. This move aims to ensure smoother compliance and reduce last-minute technical burdens on the Income Tax e-filing portal. It may be noted that the High Courts of Gujarat, Punjab & Haryana have also issued directions to the CBDT in the past, urging the extension of tax audit deadlines in light of genuine hardships faced by assessees. The current extension is expected to align compliance timelines and ensure accuracy in audit reporting. With this announcement, the CBDT has once again demonstrated a taxpayer-friendly approach, offering much-needed relief to professionals and entities working to meet statutory tax filing obligations for the Assessment Year 2025–26.