The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has recently provided relief to taxpayers covered under audit by extending the due date for furnishing audit reports and considering further extension of the income-tax return (ITR) filing deadline. For the Assessment Year 2025-26, the audit report filing date has been officially extended to 31 October 2025, while the Gujarat High Court has directed that the corresponding ITR filing date for audit cases be extended to 30 November 2025. These developments aim to ease compliance pressures for businesses and professionals facing delays in completing statutory audits.
✅ What’s changed
- The deadline for furnishing tax audit reports (for the financial year 2024-25, assessment year 2025-26) has been extended. The CBDT via Circular No. 14/2025 (dated 25 Sept 2025) extended the “specified date” for furnishing various audit reports (for assessees referred in clause (a) of Explanation 2 to Section 139(1)) from 30 Sept 2025 to 31 Oct 2025.
From the tax-department “Tax Calendar” entry:
“Note: The due date for furnishing the report has been extended from 30-09-2025 to 31-10-2025 vide Circular No. 14/2025, dated 25-09-2025.”
- For ITR (Income Tax Return) filing where audit is required (i.e., taxpayers whose books are required to be audited), the normal due date stated in the tax calendar is 31 October 2025 for AY 2025-26.
- There has been a judicial development: The Gujarat High Court (GHC) has directed the CBDT to extend the ITR filing deadline for audit-cases entities to 30 November 2025. The Court felt that when the audit-report deadline is extended, the ITR return deadline should automatically be one month later, per the statutory linkage in Section 139(1) of the Act.
⚠️ Key caveats & implications
- Even though the GHC has directed the deadline to 30 November, the CBDT is yet to issue the formal circular (or at least the publicly prominent one) for that extension. So until the CBDT officially notifies the later date, the stand should be cautious.
- If the ITR is delayed beyond the due date and audit has been triggered, penalties under Section 271B may apply (for failure to furnish tax‐audit report) and also other late‐filing consequences for return of income.
- The interlinkage: The “specified date” for audit report (under Section 44AB and others) must precede the return filing date. If one is extended, ideally the other should be too. The GHC’s reasoning is based on this statutory relationship.
- For non-audit cases (individuals/HUFs without audit requirement) the deadlines are different and earlier; the above mostly concerns audit-cases.
📝 What you should do
- If you are an assessee whose accounts require a tax audit (for example under Section 44AB), check whether you fall under the extended date category (Clause (a) of Explanation 2 to Section 139(1) was mentioned).
- Keep an eye on the official e-filing portal of the Income Tax Department / CBDT for the formal notification of the extension of ITR filing deadline (to 30 Nov 2025) as directed by GHC.
- File your audit report before the deadline (31 Oct 2025 as per current official calendar) to avoid penalties under Section 271B.
- File your ITR as soon as possible after audit report is ready, and ensure all audit report annexures etc are properly attached/linked, because delays can increase compliance risk.
- If you delay, be aware of the penalty regime, and also that refunds may be delayed or you may lose the ability to carry forward certain losses etc.
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Maintain documentation showing why delay (if any) happened — in case you want to seek relief for reasonable cause.