In a major relief for taxpayers, the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has extended key income tax deadlines for AY 2025-26. The due date for filing income tax returns (ITRs) for AY 2025-26 in tax audit cases has been extended to December 10 from October 31, 2025. The department has also extended the due date for filing tax audit report to November 10, 2025.

1-month gap between audit report deadline and return filing date

So now, as sought by taxpayers, the tax department has maintained a one-month window between the audit report deadline and return filing date.

In a social media post, the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) said that it has decided “to extend the due date of furnishing of Return of Income under sub-Section (1) of Section 139 of the Act for the Assessment Year 2025-26, which is 31st October 2025 in the case of assessees referred in clause (a) of Explanation 2 to sub-Section (1) of Section 139 of the Act, to 10th December 2025”.

“The ‘specified date’ of furnishing of the report of audit under the provisions of the Income-tax Act, 1961, for the Previous Year 2024-25 (Assessment Year 2025-26) is further extended to 10th November 2025,” it further said.

High Courts extended tax audit deadline till November 30

Earlier in the day, the Punjab & Haryana High Court and the Himachal Pradesh High Court extended the tax audit case deadline to November 30, 2025.

The Punjab & Haryana High Court passed the order after combining five writ petitions from Punjab and Haryana into a single case. The Himachal Pradesh High Court also made this ruling based on a writ petition.

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Recently, the Gujarat High Court directed the tax department to extend the ITR filing deadline for audit cases. The court clearly stated that there should be a statutory gap of at least one month between the tax audit report and the ITR filing date.

The Income Tax Bar Association filed a petition in the Gujarat High Court, arguing that there should be a gap of one month between the submission of audit reports and the filing of ITR. Therefore, since the CBDT extended the audit report date to October 31, the ITR filing date should automatically be November 30, 2025, the association said.

In September, the Karnataka High Court and the Rajasthan High Court had directed the Central Board of Direct Taxes to extend the deadline for filing Tax Audit Reports (TAR) under Section 44AB of the Income Tax Act, 1961, by one month to 31st October 2025.

The Karnataka High Court order came on the basis of a writ petition filed by the Karnataka State Chartered Accountants Association (KSCAA), seeking an extension of the tax audit deadline.