New Delhi: The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has extended the last date for filing income tax returns (ITR) for the financial year 2024-25 (assessment year 2025-26). Now, individual taxpayers and Hindu Undivided Families (HUFs), who are not liable for audit, can file their returns by September 15, 2025, instead of July 31, 2025.
The extension comes after repeated demands from chartered accountants and professional associations who highlighted the problems being faced by taxpayers in meeting the July deadline. Taxpayers whose accounts are required to be audited will still have to file their returns by September 30, 2025 as there is no change in their deadline.
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Reasons For Extension
Technical issues with the portal: Many users complained of errors, slow login process and failure to upload returns on the income tax e-filing portal.
Data inconsistencies: Inconsistencies between the Annual Information Statement (AIS) and Form 26AS led to confusion over tax credits and taxpayers had to spend more time on data matching.
Form delays: The late release of updated ITR forms and utilities reduced the period available for filing.
New ICAI reporting formats: Revised disclosure requirements by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India are increasing the compliance burden.
The Chandigarh Chartered Accountants Taxation Association (CCATAX) and others urged the CBDT to take these challenges into account. Considering these requests, the board issued a circular on May 27, 2025 extending the last date by six weeks.
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Importance Of Early Filing
Filing of returns after the new deadline of September 15 may attract late fees under section 234F and interest under sections 234A, 234B, 234C. Taxpayers may also lose the option to carry forward some losses to subsequent years.
With this extension, taxpayers have additional time to file correct returns, but experts advise to avoid last-minute filing as further extensions are unlikely.
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