The decision of the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) to extend to October 31 the deadline for filing tax audit reports for FY 2024-25 has given taxpayers and professionals a breather.
October, however, will be a busy month with multiple critical deadlines and a number of holidays due to the festival season, which would mean fewer working days.
Taxpayers and professionals had petitioned for an extension to the September 30 deadline citing heavy monsoon rains, technical challenges and compressed timelines.
Though the Tax Audit Report (TAR) filing deadline has been extended for assessees under section 44AB of the Income-tax Act, the income tax return (ITR) filing deadline for those requiring an audit remains October 31, meaning both audit and ITR filings now coincide at month-end.
Sumit Garg, a chartered accountant who filed a writ petition for an extension, cautions that October brings many other due dates too — GST quarterly filings, TDS returns, RoC filings.
"The festive season, including Diwali, further shrinks working days," he added. So one needs to plan meticulously, as penalties can add up on missing the deadlines. A delay under tax audit, for instance, can invite a heavy penalty of up to Rs 1.5 lakh, or 0.5 percent of the turnover.
On September 25, the Delhi High Court adjourned the hearing on the tax audit extension plea after the CBDT sought additional time to review the recent decisions of the Rajasthan and Karnataka high courts extending the deadline to October 31.
CBDT has assured that the e-filing portal is stable and has processed record filings of over 4.02 lakh TAR and 7.57 crore ITRs.
“Only the Tax Audit Report due date has been extended; ITR filings, trust renewal applications, transfer pricing cases, and GST filings are all due around the same time,” said Himank Singla, founding partner at SBHS & Associates.
While the audit deadline extension offers short-term relief, the overall compliance crunch remains. October will demand peak efficiency and careful planning amid festival seasons and tax-filing periods.
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