The Income Tax Department on Wednesday extended the deadline for filing income tax returns (ITRs) for corporates and assessees requiring an audit for the assessment year 2025–26 to December 10.
Under the Income Tax Act, such taxpayers are required to file their returns of income by October 31 every year. The department has now granted an additional 40 days to comply with the requirement.
“The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has decided to extend the due date of furnishing of Return of Income for the Assessment Year 2025–26, which is 31st October 2025, to 10th December 2025,” the CBDT said in a statement.
Additionally, the last date for filing audited reports has been pushed from October 31 to November 10.
Extensions due to disruptions
Earlier, on September 25, the department had extended the deadline for submission of audit reports for the 2024–25 fiscal by one month till October 31, following industry representations.
The extensions were sought due to floods and other natural calamities in parts of the country that disrupted normal business and professional activities, according to the PTI report.
For the current assessment year, the ITR filing deadline for individuals was also extended from July 31 to September 15, and then to September 16.
As per official data cited by PTI, over 7.54 crore ITRs were filed till that date, with 1.28 crore taxpayers paying self-assessment tax.
What if you miss the tax audit deadline
Tax experts have cautioned that failure to file the tax audit report within the stipulated timeline could attract a penalty under Section 271B of the Income Tax Act.
According to a report in the Mint, the penalty may amount to 0.5% of total sales, subject to a maximum of ₹1.5 lakh.
However, the report notes that under Section 271B, no penalty will be levied if the taxpayer can provide a “reasonable cause” for the delay or non-compliance.
For a tax audit, the required documents include cash books, ledgers, bank statements, stock records, and sales or purchase invoices, which must be reviewed by a Chartered Accountant.
Any taxpayer with a business turnover exceeding ₹1 crore in a financial year, or ₹10 crore when cash transactions account for less than 5% of total transactions, must undergo a tax audit, another report in the Mint added.
Similarly, professionals are required to get their accounts audited if their gross receipts exceed ₹50 lakh annually.
