CAs, taxpayers flood X with tweets seeking extension of ITR, audit deadlines

With the Income Tax Returns filing deadline fast approaching, September has proved to be stressful than usual for thousands of chartered accountants and tax professionals. Amid rising anxiety around upcoming deadlines, they have taken to X with hashtags such as #extend_ITR_TAR_duedates and #extend_due_dates_immediately, to extend the ITR due date from September 15 to September 30.

According to a user, there have been more than 6,000 tweets seeking the deadline extension, showing that the sentiment is widespread across the professional community. "For the purpose of Income Tax Audit, professionals are required to conduct tax audits and report them in Form 3CA-3CD/ 3CB-3CD to the Income Tax Department. The statutory deadline for filing the tax audit report is as follows: September 30 for taxpayers covered under tax audit (excluding cases involving transfer pricing), and October 31 for taxpayers to whom transfer pricing provisions apply,” says CA Suresh Surana.

As the tax season progresses, the revised compliance timelines warrant careful attention, particularly for taxpayers who are subject to audit. "While assessees not liable to have their accounts audited have been granted an extended due date of September 15, 2025, those requiring audit must complete their filing by October 31, 2025. Further, assessees who are required to furnish a report under section 92E (transfer pricing report in Form 3CEB) are required to file their return of income by November 30, 2025," says Gaurav Jain, partner, direct tax, Forvis Mazars.

For AY2024-25, the government had released the tax audit utility on April 23, 2024. In contrast, for AY2025-26, the Income Tax Department issued the audit utilities and schema only on July 17, 2025, thereby giving professionals barely 75 days to complete and file tax audit reports for non-transfer pricing cases.

"While recent improvements to the e-filing portal are appreciated, some challenges still arise—particularly during peak periods, such as validation issues, temporary downtime, and slower response times," said Surana.

In some cases, users encounter errors during the upload process. Moreover, the latest ITR forms and audit reports mandate extensive disclosures. "While aimed at enhancing transparency, these requirements significantly increase the time and effort involved, as data often needs to be compiled from multiple systems. Given the complexity, accurate filing is critical as any errors may expose taxpayers to unwarranted scrutiny and avoidable tax demands," says Surana.