The deadline for filing income tax returns has recently been extended once again. Businesses and audit taxpayers now have 21 more days to do so.

Last date for filing ITR extended for businessmen

The Income Tax Department has provided significant relief to companies and businesses requiring tax audits. The deadline for filing income tax returns and tax audit reports for the financial year 2025-26, or assessment year 2026-27, has been extended by 21 days, the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) announced on Monday.

For companies and businessmen whose accounts require a tax audit, the last date for filing income tax returns has now been extended from October 31 to November 21, 2026.

The deadline
for submitting tax audit reports has been extended from September 30 to October 21, 2026. This means that businesses and companies that require tax audits will now have an additional 21 days to prepare their reports and returns. This decision provides them with some further relief.

Why was the date extended?
The reason behind this is that tax experts and business owners have been consistently demanding an extension. They stated that this year, many tax-related tasks are being completed in a shorter timeframe. Businesses need to reconcile income tax data, GST records, and accounting data. This takes a significant amount of time. Furthermore, there were several tax filing deadlines in September. Festival holidays and banking issues also added to the workload.

The last date for filing ITR for salaried taxpayers was July 31, 2026. For businesses and professionals whose accounts were not required to be audited, the last date was August 31, 2026. According to the Income Tax Department, more than 78 million ITRs had been filed for the assessment year 2026-27 by August 31.