Compliance Calendar

CBDT Extends ITR Filing Deadline for Audited Taxpayers to 21 November 2026 — Tax Audit Report Deadline Moves to 21 October

Published 28 Sept 2026· By Finoscape Editorial Team· Updated 28 Sept 2026· 5 min read

By CA Siddharth S. Sancheti, Editor, Finoscape

Verification note: This report is based on the official press release issued by the Ministry of Finance (CBDT) — PIB Release ID 2316050, dated 28 September 2026, 5:19 PM — verified directly against PIB’s own record. As the release itself states, the formal statutory order/notification giving legal effect to this extension is “being issued separately” and had not yet been published on incometax.gov.in at the time of writing. Treat the dates below as reliable but not final until that order appears.

Executive Summary

The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has extended two connected due dates for Assessment Year 2026-27. The deadline for furnishing the Return of Income for taxpayers whose accounts require audit moves from 31 October 2026 to 21 November 2026, and — as a direct consequence — the “specified date” for furnishing the tax audit report itself moves from 30 September 2026 to 21 October 2026.

Background

Under Explanation 2 to Section 139(1) of the Income-tax Act, 1961, taxpayers falling under Serial No. 2 of the table — broadly, non-corporate assessees whose accounts must be audited, whether under the Income-tax Act itself or under any other law — ordinarily have until 31 October following the relevant financial year to file their return. Because a tax audit report has to be finalised before the return can be filed, the “specified date” for furnishing that report is fixed one month earlier, at 30 September.

Via the press release dated 28 September 2026 — two days before that specified date would otherwise have expired — the CBDT announced both dates are extended. The release explicitly notes that a formal order/notification is being issued separately to give this legal effect.

What This Means in Practice

Compliance	Original Date	Extended Date
Tax audit report (specified date)	30 September 2026	21 October 2026
Return of Income	31 October 2026	21 November 2026

This gives a genuine three-week breathing room on both ends of the audit-to-filing chain — useful relief given how compressed the audit season has been running in recent cycles, but not an invitation to push everything to the last week again.

Does This Extension Cover Trusts Filing Form 10B/10BB?

This is a question we expect from several clients, so it is worth addressing directly — with the caveat that the formal order has not been published yet.

Form 10B/10BB (the audit report for charitable/religious trusts and institutions registered under Section 12A or approved under Section 10(23C)) is due by the same “specified date” concept referenced in Section 44AB, fixed one month before the Section 139(1) return due date. A trust’s return, though filed under the separate mechanism in Section 139(4A), is treated as filed under Section 139(1) for this purpose. Since the press release extends the specified date for “the report of audit under the provisions of the Income-tax Act, 1961” generally — language not confined to Section 44AB tax audits alone — the more natural reading is that it extends to Form 10B/10BB as well, for any trust whose accounts are audited under the Act or under another law.

On this reasoning, a trust required to furnish Form 10B or 10BB would see its audit-report deadline move to 21 October 2026, and its ITR-7 due date move to 21 November 2026.

The caveat that matters: this is our reading of the press release’s language, not a trust-specific confirmation from CBDT, and the formal order has not been published yet. CBDT has extended Form 10B/10BB deadlines by separate circular in the past (Circular No. 16/2023), so a trust-specific clarification would not be unprecedented either way.

Applicability at a Glance

Category	Likely Covered?	Why
Registered under Section 12A, filing Form 10B/10BB	Yes, on current reading	Audit is mandated by the Income-tax Act itself
Approved under Section 10(23C), filing an audit report	Yes, on current reading	Same “audit under the Act” logic
Public trust audited under a state law, below Form 10B/10BB threshold	Yes, for the return itself	“Audit under any other law” places it within Serial No. 2
No audit requirement under any law	No	Falls outside Serial No. 2 entirely

Practical Implications

Update your internal compliance calendar now to the extended dates, but keep a watch for the formal notification. Once published on incometax.gov.in, it will be the authoritative source, and any deviation from the press release (however unlikely) will need to be flagged to affected clients immediately.

Action Checklist

Update your compliance tracker: tax audit specified date → 21 October 2026; ITR due date (audit cases) → 21 November 2026.
For trust/Section 12A clients on Form 10B/10BB, apply the same extended dates on the reasoning above, flagging internally that this is pending formal confirmation.
Watch incometax.gov.in and PIB for the formal order/notification, particularly checking whether it explicitly mentions Section 12A(1)(b)/Form 10B/10BB.
Don’t let the extension become an excuse to push audit finalisation into the last week of the new window.

Relevant Sections & Notification

Press release, Ministry of Finance (CBDT), dated 28 September 2026, PIB Release ID 2316050
Explanation 2 to Section 139(1), Income-tax Act, 1961 (due date table, Serial No. 2)
Section 44AB, Income-tax Act, 1961 (tax audit; “specified date” concept)
Section 139(4A), Income-tax Act, 1961 (return of income for trusts)
Circular No. 16/2023 dated 18 September 2023 (precedent for CBDT extending Form 10B/10BB specifically)
Formal order/notification — pending as of publication; to be updated once issued

FAQs

Is this extension final?
The press release is official and verified directly against PIB’s record, but CBDT states a formal order/notification is being issued separately. Treat the dates as reliable but not final until that order appears.

Does the extension apply to every taxpayer?
No — it applies specifically to persons at Serial No. 2 of the table under Explanation 2 to Section 139(1): broadly, non-corporate taxpayers whose accounts require audit. Non-audit taxpayers’ due dates are unaffected.

Are trusts filing Form 10B/10BB definitely covered?
On our reading of the press release’s language, yes — but this has not been confirmed trust-specifically by CBDT, and the formal order is still pending. Treat this as our working position, not a guarantee, until that order is published.

Author & Disclaimer: By CA Siddharth S. Sancheti, Editor, Finoscape. Educational content only — not legal or tax advice. Based on the official PIB press release; please verify against the formal CBDT order/notification once published before relying on these dates for any specific filing.