In light of the difficulties being faced by chartered accountants, tax professionals, taxpayers, and businesses during the current filing season, the Chandigarh Chartered Accountants Taxation Association (CCATAX) has requested the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) to extend the due date for filing income tax returns and tax audit for the AY 2025-26.
Citing changes in the digital infrastructure of income tax filing platform, portal glitches owing to severe monsoons, reduced working days due to early onset of the festival season, and delayed release of return utilities, the body, which represents stakeholders from Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and other nearby states, stated difficulty in timely filing of returns.
Highlighting its concerns, the association said the ICAI (Institute of Chartered Accountants of India) had recently introduced a new format for non-corporate entities which standardises a vertical format for balance sheets and profit and loss accounts while also mandating the inclusion of comparative figures from the previous year.
These changes, reasoned the industry body, require software updates, training and time for adaptation.
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Additionally, the release of Income Tax Return (ITR) and Tax Audit utilities for FY 2024-24 has been delayed by around three months, with rollout beginning in July, 2025. This leaves tax professionals and taxpayers with only 45 days to ensure error-free submissions, which can be challenging, it said.
As of August 20, 2025, there have only been 3.35 crore returns filed, compared with 7.41 crore returns filed by July 31, 2024. This shortfall of nearly 55 per cent makes it even more implausible for people to meet a short deadline comprising 25 days until September 15, 2025, CCATAX said in its letter.
In order to avoid inaccurate reporting and inadvertent errors, the association has requested the CBDT that the due date for non-audit cases be delayed to October 31, 2025; for audit cases be deferred to December 31, 2025; for tax audit reports, be postponed to November 30, 2025; and for revised and belated returns, be delayed to March 31, 2026.
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