Income tax.
Credit: iStock
New Delhi: The deadline for filing tax audit reports for businesses and professionals for the financial year 2024-25 (assessment year 2025-26) has been extended by a month from September 30 to October 31, the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) said on Thursday.
The move comes after tax practitioners’ lobby moved to the courts, including the Karnataka High Court and the Delhi High Court, seeking extension of dates citing multiple challenges like technical glitches in the Income Tax portal, disruptions caused by floods and festival-related travel.
“Keeping in view the representation of the Tax practitioners and their submissions before the Hon’ble Courts, the ‘specified date’ for furnishing of the report of audit under any provision of the Income-tax Act, 1961, for the Previous Year 2024-25 (Assessment Year 2025-26), in the case of assessees referred to in clause (a) of Explanation 2 to sub-section (1) of section 139 of the Act is extended from September 30, 2025 to October 31, 2025,” the CBDT said in a statement.
As per the statement released by the Union Finance Ministry, the CBDT has received representations from various professional associations, including Chartered Accountant bodies, “highlighting certain difficulties being faced by taxpayers and practitioners in timely completion of audit report.”
The reasons cited in these representations include disruptions caused by floods and natural calamities in certain parts of the country, which have impeded normal business and professional activity. This matter has also come up before High Courts, it said.
However, the ministry claimed that the “Income-tax e-filing portal has been operating smoothly and without any technical glitches and the Tax Audit Reports are being uploaded successfully.”
“The system is stable and fully functional, enabling submission of various statutory forms and reports,” it added.