ITR deadline not to be extended beyond September 15, says CBDT as fake news floods social media

The Income Tax Department has recently issued a statement, busting a fake news circulating online around the extension of the Income Tax Returns (ITRs) filing.

“A fake news is in circulation stating that the due of filing ITRs (originally due on 31.07.2025, and extended to 15.09.2025) has been further extended to 30.09.2025,” the income tax department wrote in a post on X.

The fake news that was circulating previously included a circular that deceived readers to be an official circular issued by the Ministry of Finance, when it was actually edited and generated by AI online by some social media user.

The due date for filing Income Tax Returns (ITRs) continues to remain September 15, Monday.

The social media handle of the department has asked users to rely exclusively on the updates shared on the portal or the official profile across social media platforms.

“To assist taxpayers for ITR filing, tax payment and other related services, our helpdesk is functioning on a 24x7 basis, and we are providing support through calls, live chats, WebEx sessions & Twitter/X,” the post added.

The fake news came at a time when thousands of chartered accountants (CAs) and tax professionals had called for a second extension to the ITR filing deadline, posting on X with hashtags such as #extend_ITR_TAR_duedates and #extend_due_dates_immediately.

According to a user, there were around 6,000 tweets that urged the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) to extend the deadline for ITR filing, reflecting that the sentiment was widespread across the professional community.

The CBDT had already extended the deadline for ITR filing for the Assessment Year 2025-26 from July 31 to September 15 in May.

This extension gave the taxpayers some extra time to comply with the revised filing requirements introduced this year.

As the due date for ITR filing ends today, it becomes critical for individuals to focus on accurate Income-tax Return (ITR), particularly those with multiple income sources, to avoid compliance notices.

They must ensure that all income streams are reported and reconciled with the Annual Information Statement (AIS), additionally Form 26AS is extremely important while filing the return filing. Selecting the right ITR form and tax regime prevent penalties.