P&H HC Slams CBDT’s Last Moment Approach, Directs to issue Circular Extending ITR Due Date for Audit Cases [Read Order]

Several petitioners, including individual practitioners and bar associations, filed writ petitions seeking an extension of the dates for filing tax audit reports and income tax returns. They argued that although the auditreport formats were changed in March 2025, the e-filing utilities were made available only in August 2025, leaving very little time for assessees to comply.

The petitioners’ counsel explained that this delay created genuine hardship because audit reports and returns must be filed electronically. They also pointed out that CBDT had already extended the due date for non-audit cases earlier in the year because of system-related issues.

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During the hearings, the Union of India informed the Court that the audit report due date had been extended from 30 September 2025 to 31 October 2025. The petitioners argued that once the audit report date was extended, the return filing date must also be extended, as the Income Tax Act requires a one-month gap between the two.

The petitioners also argued that the Gujarat High Court had already directed CBDT to extend the return filing date to 30 November 2025, and that this order had not been challenged.

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The Division Bench comprising Justice Lisa Gill and Justice Meenakshi I. Mehta examined the communication produced by CBDT regarding renewal applications under Section 12A of the Income Tax Act.

CBDT explained that such applications could be filed with provisional financial statements and that audited accounts for the latest year were not mandatory. The court accepted this clarification and observed that no extension was required for Section 12A renewal of the Income Tax Act.

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When the matter came up again, CBDT stated that the proposal to extend the return filing date was still under consideration. The court pointed out

“tendency of respondent to wait till the last moment has been duly noted and commented upon by High Court of Gujarat”

The court also observed repeated adjournments had already been granted and that CBDT had taken no final decision, even though the Gujarat High Court’s order had become final.

The court explained that waiting until the last days of October to act was not reasonable, especially when the law clearly required a one-month gap between the audit report date and the return filing date.

The court held that once the audit report date had been extended to 31 October 2025, the return filing due date must be extended to 30 November 2025. It observed that not extending the date would defeat the statutory framework and restore the old practice of filing audit reports and returns together, which the amended law had changed.

The court directed CBDT to issue a circular extending the income tax return due date for all audit-case assessees to 30 November 2025. All connected writ petitions were disposed of with this direction.

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