AIFTP Moves Delhi High Court Seeking Extension of ITR and Audit Deadlines

AIFTP Moves Delhi High Court Seeking Extension of ITR and Audit Deadlines

The All India Federation of Tax Practitioners (AIFTP), which is an apex body of tax professionals having more than 11,000 individual members and 146 bar associations as its affiliated members, has filed a writ petition in the Delhi High Court against the Union of India and the Central Board of Direct Taxes (respondents), for seeking directions to the Respondents to extend time limits for filing audit reports, which are due for filing by 30.09.2025 and also returns of income, which are to be filed by 31.10.2025 and accordingly, immediate directions are necessary in the matter.

The writ petition has been filed in the interest of taxpayers under the Income Tax Act, and the tax professionals who are required to file returns of income and audit reports under the provisions of the Income Tax Act. AIFTP said that the Income Tax Act lists the deadlines for filing returns and audit reports as per different categories of taxpayers, and the CBDT (Central Board of Direct Taxes) has the authority to make changes and extensions to these deadlines under the Ministry of Finance.

In the past, the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) initially extended the due date for filing the Income Tax Return (ITR) from July 31, 2025, to September 15, 2025, via its Circular dated 27.05.2025, considering the fact that the relevant return forms and utilities on the income tax department’s website were not available. Then again, it extended the due date by one day via its circular dated 15.09.2025, considering the fact that the income tax portal was displaying glitches, which created barriers for taxpayers in compliance.

According to AIFTP, ideally, the ITR filing deadline should have been extended till September 30, 2025, instead of a minor one-day extension. For the one-day deadline extension, the department only considered the fact that glitches were arriving in the Income Tax Portal and ignored the fact that utilities for filing other returns and audit reports were also made available with substantial delays, till September 15, 2025. Because of this late release, professionals had very little time to prepare tax audit reports and file returns. Despite repeated requests from professional bodies, the government has not extended the due dates for:

• Audit reports (due 30.09.2025)
• Income-tax returns (due 31.10.2025)
• Transfer pricing reports (due 31.10.2025 & 30.11.2025)
• Charitable trust registrations/approvals (due 30.09.2025)

July to October is already a busy period for professionals due to company law, GST, and income-tax compliances, along with many festivals and reduced working days. Staff shortages and recent natural disasters like floods and landslides have made it even harder. The petition argues that, as per a High Court order 2015, if forms are delayed, deadlines should also be extended. Since delays happened this year too, the Court is requested to direct the government to extend the time limits.

The All India Federation of Tax Practitioners (AIFTP) has requested the extension of due dates as under:

Citation: All India Federation of Tax Practitioners (AIFTP) Vs Union of India and the Central Board of Direct Taxes (Delhi High Court); 23/09/2025