News

In a major relief for taxpayers, the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) on Wednesday extended the deadlines for filing income tax returns (ITRs) and audit reports for the Assessment Year (AY) 2025–26.

As per the CBDT’s latest notification, the deadline for submitting audit reports has been extended to November 10, 2025, while the last date for filing ITRs has been pushed to December 10, 2025.

The extension applies to assessees covered under clause (a) of Explanation 2 to sub-section (1) of Section 139 of the Income-tax Act, 1961 — a category that typically includes companies, firms, and individuals whose accounts are required to be audited.

In its release, the Board said, “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 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. The ‘specified date’ of furnishing of the report of audit under the provisions of the Income-tax Act, 1961, for the Previous Year 2024–25 (Assessment Year 2025–26) is further extended to 10th November 2025.”

The CBDT’s move comes days after the Gujarat High Court extended the deadline for tax audit cases to November 30, 2025.

In a related matter, the Delhi High Court had been hearing a petition in Sumit Garg vs CBDT, where the department informed the court that the issue of ITR due date extension was “under active consideration” and that the Gujarat High Court’s judgment dated October 13, 2025, was being examined. The Delhi High Court had adjourned the matter to Thursday for further hearing.

Earlier, both the Himachal Pradesh High Court and the Punjab & Haryana High Court had also issued orders extending the deadline for filing audit reports from October 31 to November 30, 2025, adding to the pressure on the CBDT to grant uniform relief across jurisdictions.