The Income Tax Department has announced an extension of 21 days for the due date of Income Tax Return (ITR) filing and submission of audit reports by corporates for the assessment year 2026-27. Corporates are now required to file their income tax returns by November 21, instead of the previous deadline of October 31.
Extended Deadlines
Similarly, the deadline for the submission of tax audit reports has been moved from September 30 to October 21. This decision was confirmed in a statement by the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT), which acknowledged the need for this extension.
Reasons for the Extension
Tax practitioners had been advocating for an extension of the corporate statutory audit report and ITR filing deadline, citing a compressed audit window due to the August 31 deadline for filing ITR in non-audit cases. Amit Agarwal, Senior Partner at Nangia & Co LLP, commented on the extension, stating:
