ITR Filing Deadline for Audit Cases Expected to be Extended to November 30

ITR Filing Deadline for Audit Cases Expected to be Extended to November 30

The Gujarat High Court has directed the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) to take action that would effectively result in the extension of the Income Tax Return (ITR) filing deadline for assessees requiring a tax audit to be extended by one month, until November 30, 2025.

Grounds for the High Court’s Direction

• Statutory Linkage of Due Dates: The Court emphasized the statutory linkage between the filing of the Tax Audit Report (TAR) and the ITR. Under Explanation (ii) to Section 44AB of the Income Tax Act, the deadline for filing the TAR is mandated to be one month prior to the due date for filing the ITR (Section 139(1)).
• CBDT’s Action Created Discrepancy: The CBDT had already extended the deadline for filing the Tax Audit Report (TAR) from September 30, 2025, to October 31, 2025. This action eliminated the mandatory one-month gap between the TAR and ITR deadlines (which was also October 31, 2025).
• HC’s Mandate: Citing judicial precedent, the High Court held that the CBDT cannot extend one deadline without correspondingly extending the other, as doing so overrides the provisions of the Income Tax Act. The court thus directed the CBDT to issue a simultaneous notification, which would implicitly extend the ITR filing due date for audit cases to November 30, 2025, thereby restoring the statutory one-month gap.

Implication

While the Court issued a direction, the extension of the ITR deadline to November 30, 2025, is contingent upon the CBDT issuing a formal notification to that effect.