Big relief for taxpayers! ITR filing deadline for audit cases extended till December 10; move follows courts order

The Income tax department on Wednesday extended the due date for filing income tax returns for AY 2025-26 for corporates and taxpayers requiring audit reports to December 10, 2025, according to a notification issued by the central board of direct taxes.According to an official notification issued by the CBDT, “The due date of furnishing the Return of Income under sub-section (1) of Section 139 of the Income Tax Act, 1961, for Assessment Year 2025-26, which was earlier October 31, 2025, stands extended to December 10, 2025, in the case of assessees referred to in clause (a) of Explanation 2 to the sub-section.”Further, the CBDT has extended the “specified date” for furnishing the report of audit under the provisions of the Income Tax Act, 1961, for the previous year 2024-25 to November 10, 2025.The decision follows a series of High Court orders — including from the Gujarat, Punjab & Haryana, and Himachal Pradesh High Courts — that criticised the delay in extending the due date and observed that the gap between the tax audit report filing and the return filing should be at least one month.In its earlier ruling, the Gujarat High Court had directed the CBDT to issue a circular under Section 119 of the Act extending the deadline to November 30, 2025, for audit cases. The Punjab & Haryana and Himachal Pradesh High Courts followed suit, prompting the tax board to act.