AY 2025-26 income tax report filing due date extended again: All you need to know

The Income Tax Department is again extending the ITR filing deadline from October 31 to December 10 for the AY 2025-26. The deadline to file tax audit reports has also been extended from October 31 to November 10.

This change applies to corporates and certain types of  taxpayers—specifically, "assessees" referred to in clause (a) of Explanation 2 to sub-Section (1) of Section 139 of the Income Tax Act.

This comes months after continued requests from industry bodies and chartered accountants to extend the due date led to the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) changing the audit report filing deadline from September 30 to October 31.

Weather-related disruptions and natural disasters in several regions, which affected accounting and filing work, were cited as some of the reasons for the appeals.

In September, netizens had also flagged a number of issues with the Income Tax Department's e-filing portal, which included payments not reflecting in the portal and the website itself not working for some people.

The I-T Department's extension also follows recent decisions by the high courts of Punjab, Haryana, Gujarat, and Himachal Pradesh to extend the audit report filing deadline from October 31 to November 30.

The high courts of Punjab and Haryana passed the order after merging five writ petitions filed by tax associations and professionals into a single case. The Himachal Pradesh High Court's decision came after a petition filed by Advocate 

The Punjab & Haryana High Court passed its order after merging five writ petitions filed by tax associations and professionals from Punjab and Haryana into a single case. The Himachal Pradesh High Court's ruling came after hearing a petition filed by Advocate Vishal Mohan, a Business Today report said.

Both courts observed that the gap between the tax audit report deadline and the ITR filing deadline should be at least one month, echoing the reason behind the Gujarat High Court's ruling.

The CBDT's nationwide extension is effectively a culmination of these rulings. 

Business