New Delhi: Leading tax bodies including the Advocates Tax Bar Association (ATBA), the Karnataka State Chartered Accountants Association (KSCAA), and the Central India Regional Council (CIRC) of ICAI have requested Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to extend the due dates for filing Income Tax Returns (ITRs) and tax audit reports, citing ongoing technical glitches on the ITR portal and overlapping compliance burdens.
ATBA’s Demand
The ATBA has sought an extension of the non-audit ITR deadline to October 15, 2025, and the tax audit report deadline to November 30, 2025. It emphasized that procedural timelines are meant to ensure justice, not penalize taxpayers facing genuine hardships.
ATBA cited multiple difficulties:
- Frequent portal downtimes, validation errors, and slow uploads.
- Incorrect prompts under Sections 54/54F despite proper utilization of exemptions.
- Persistent mismatches in AIS and TDS data.
- Reduced effective working days due to festivals, national holidays, and severe floods in parts of the country.
Om Kumar, National General Secretary of ATBA, said:
“Despite best efforts, taxpayers and professionals are struggling to comply within the current deadlines. The glitches, compressed timelines, and compliance overlaps make timely and accurate filing nearly impossible.”
KSCAA’s Representation
The KSCAA, in its September 10 representation, flagged delays in releasing ITR and audit forms (ITR-5, 6, 7 and audit forms 3CA/3CB/3CD, 10BB) which were notified only in July–August 2025 instead of the usual April timeline.
It also pointed to:
- Prefilled GST turnover data becoming available only in mid-August.
- Ongoing reconciliation issues with sale of shares/securities data in AIS.
- TDS reporting mismatches causing rejection of returns.
- Frequent schema changes forcing repeated revalidation.
- Broader disruption from undersea cable cuts impacting internet speed.
KSCAA requested urgent corrective steps like portal stability, temporary relaxation in validations, grievance redressal mechanisms, and realistic deadlines.
ICAI’s Position
The CIRC of ICAI has also urged the government to extend the tax audit report filing deadline to December 31, 2025, citing overlapping timelines for GST, MCA, and audit compliance, combined with systemic issues on the portal.
Chartered Accountant Himank Singla highlighted:
“This year’s circumstances are far from ordinary. Staggered ITR releases, unresolved glitches, and multiple regulatory overlaps have made compliance extremely challenging. The request for extension is not convenience but necessity.”
Current Deadlines
- Non-audit ITR filing (extended earlier): September 15, 2025
- Tax audit report deadline: September 30, 2025
- ITR filing in audit cases: October 31, 2025
Tax professionals argue that without extensions, taxpayers risk interest, penalties, late fees, and denial of loss carry-forwards due to delays beyond their control.
The government is yet to respond, but given repeated representations by professional bodies, stakeholders are hopeful that compliance timelines will be extended to ease taxpayer hardship.
