CBDT extends due date for FY25 tax audit report filing to October 31

The development comes a day after the Rajasthan High Court's Jodhpur bench passed an interim order directing the CBDT to extend the last date for filing tax audit reports to October 31

The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) on Thursday announced the extension for filing various audit reports for the financial year 2024-25 (FY25) from September 30 to October 31.

 

"The board has received representations from various professional associations, including Chartered Accountant bodies, highlighting certain difficulties being faced by taxpayers and practitioners in timely completion of audit report. The reasons cited in these representations include disruptions caused by floods and natural calamities in certain parts of the country, which have impeded normal business and professional activity. This matter has also come up before High Courts," the tax authority said.

 

This also comes a day after the Rajasthan High Court's Jodhpur bench passed an an interim order directing the CBDT to extend the last date for filing tax audit reports to October 31. 

A division bench of Justices PS Bhati and Bipin Gupta directed the CBDT to notify an extension following a public interest litigation (PIL) by the Jodhpur Tax Bar Association concerning issues on the Income Tax portal. The petitioners argued that around 4 million audit reports are usually filed nationwide, but as of September 23, only about 400,000 had been submitted, making it impossible to file the remaining 3.6 million in under a week (with September 30 as the deadline). They also highlighted similar petitions filed in other parts of the country. 

On issues in the portal, the CBDT said, "It is clarified that the Income-tax e-filing portal has been operating smoothly and without any technical glitches and the Tax Audit Reports are being uploaded successfully. The system is stable and fully functional, enabling submission of various statutory forms and reports". 

However, it added that, in view of representations from tax practitioners and their submissions before the courts, the deadline for submitting tax audit reports has been extended to October 31.