Likelihood of Extension for ITR Filing this Year Unlikely! Know Why

The Union Government has completed the first—and usually most time-consuming—step of income-tax season: all seven Income Tax Return forms (ITR-1 through ITR-7) are now available for the assessment year 2025-26.

The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has also published the verification form ITR-V and, for the first time, an ITR-U—a one-page form that lets taxpayers file or revise a return for up to 48 months, as authorised by the Finance Act 2025.

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Yet taxpayers cannot actually submit any of these forms online. The problem is not the forms themselves but the e-filing utilities—the software tools that validate, pre-fill, and upload returns on the Income-tax Department’s e-filing portal. As of Monday evening the portal’s JSON, Excel and fully online utilities were still marked “under maintenance,” effectively pausing return preparation.

What the utilities do

E-filing utilities automate much of the compliance burden. The JSON and Excel versions—favoured by tax-practice firms—allow preparers to work offline, while salaried individuals typically opt for the web-based utility that arrives with salary, advance-tax and other details already pre-populated. In AY 2024-25, nearly 44 percent of the 8.2 crore returns were filed through that direct online route.

Why the tools are late

CBDT has not issued a formal explanation, but senior officials privately cite two factors. First, each ITR form has been re-coded this year to accommodate regime-selection switches, updated capital-gains reporting, and the brand-new ITR-U. Second, the Department has tightened real-time validation checks to curb mismatches that slow down refund processing. “We are rebuilding the validation engine; once we open the gate, we do not plan to take the site down again,” one official said.

Will the return deadline move?

The statutory due date for individuals and entities not subject to audit remains 31 July 2025. Market speculation about an extension surfaced last week after two mid-sized professional bodies wrote to CBDT requesting “at least a month’s grace.” Department insiders, however, say an extension is improbable:

• Historical filing pattern. More than 70 percent of non-audit taxpayers begin uploading returns only after mid-June, giving the Department five weeks to bring the portal online without affecting most users.
  
  
• Faster processing window. Last year the average refund was credited within 16 days of filing, down from 42 days two years earlier. Officials argue that keeping the deadline firm preserves those efficiency gains.
  
  
• Ample remedy via ITR-U. Taxpayers who miss the cut-off—or who discover errors later—can now cure lapses for four years instead of the previous two, reducing the usual public-interest justification for blanket extensions.
  
  

What taxpayers should do now

While utilities are offline, experts recommend downloading the appropriate ITR form, collating Form 16, annual information statements and bank interest certificates, and reconciling capital-gain reports from brokers. “Treat this as a dry-run period,” advises Anjali Mehra, partner at a Big Four firm. “If the portal opens in the first week of June, an early-bird filer could still receive a refund before July ends.”

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The CBDT is expected to release a revised timetable for utility roll-out later this week. Unless that schedule slips well into June, practitioners say, taxpayers should not count on additional time. Failure to file by 31 July attracts a late-filing fee of up to ₹5,000, plus interest on any outstanding tax.

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