The Gujarat High Court has directed the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) to extend the due date for filing Income Tax Returns (ITRs) by one month — from October 31 to November 30, 2025 — for assessees who are required to submit tax audit reports under the Income Tax Act.
A Division Bench of Justices Bhargav D Karia and Pranav Trivedi passed the order on Monday, instructing the CBDT to exercise its powers under Section 119 of the Income Tax Act to issue a circular formalising the extension for the Financial Year 2024–25 (Assessment Year 2025–26).
“We direct the CBDT to issue a circular exercising power under section 119 of the Income Tax Act to extend the due date for filing of return up to November 30, 2025 for the assessees who are required to file audit report as per section 139 of the Act,” the bench stated in its written order.
The court was hearing a plea filed in September 2024 by the Income Tax Bar Association, seeking an extension of both the “specified date” for furnishing tax audit reports and the “due date” for submitting ITRs for FY 2024–25.
While the CBDT had on September 25 extended the specified date for audit report submissions from September 30 to October 31, 2025, it did not simultaneously extend the corresponding ITR due date, which remained October 31.
The petitioners argued that as per Explanation (ii) to Section 44AB of the Income Tax Act, the specified date must be one month prior to the due date for filing returns under Section 139(1). They contended that the CBDT should have automatically extended the ITR deadline to November 30, aligning with the statutory framework.
In its response, the CBDT clarified that it typically issues separate circulars to extend the specified date and the ITR due date. It noted that since the Finance Act, 2020, a one-month gap between the tax audit report filing deadline and the ITR due date has been consistently maintained for auditable assessees.
The Board pointed out that, in the previous year, the audit report deadline was extended in September and the ITR deadline in October through two separate circulars.
The Bench emphasized that the amended Finance Act requires a one-month gap between the two deadlines and noted that CBDT should have extended the ITR filing date as a “consequence” of extending the audit report deadline.
“It appears that CBDT has a tendency to extend the due date for filing the return on the verge of completion of the period of due date after monitoring E-filing portal so that the last date rush of filing the return may be avoided,” the court observed.
“However, in the facts and circumstances of the case, CBDT ought to have extended the due date as a consequence of extending the specified date as per Explanation (ii) to Section 44AB of the Act,” it added.
Following the court’s direction, the CBDT is expected to issue a circular officially extending the ITR filing due date for auditable assessees to November 30, 2025. This will provide additional time to tax professionals and businesses to complete compliance for AY 2025–26.
