ITR deadline extension:
Now even BJP MPs write to Finance Minister to extend income tax return filing due date

Sep 12, 2025

Synopsis
With the ITR filing deadline approaching, tax professional bodies and BJP MPs are urging the Finance Ministry to extend due dates. They cite delayed form releases, technical glitches, natural calamities in Odisha, and new financial statement formats as key challenges. Extensions are requested to alleviate taxpayer burden and ensure accurate filing amidst various compliance pressures.

With the September 15, 2025 deadline for filing Income Tax Return (ITR) just a few days away, several tax-related bodies have been writing to the Finance Ministry to extend the deadlines of various types of ITR filings. And this time, two Members of Parliament (MPs) from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) have also demanded the same.

Bhartruhari Mahatab, a BJP MP from Cuttack, Odisha, chairperson, the Finance Committee of Parliament, on behalf of the All Odisha Tax Advocates Association (AOTAA), has written a letter to Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, requesting her to extend the due date for filing the Tax Audit Report for AY 2025-26.

PP Chaudhary, the BJP MP from Pali, Rajasthan, on behalf of Tax bar Association, Jodhpur, has also written to the Finance Minister to extend ITR due dates.

What did All Odisha Tax Advocates Association (AOTAA) write in its letter to the Finance Minister about ITR deadline extensions?

In a letter dated September 10, 2025, to the Finance Minister, AOTAA has requested to extend different ITR deadlines by up to 1 month. For taxpayers whose accounts don’t require to be audited, the organisation has requested to extend the deadline from September 15, 2025 to September 30, 2025.

In its letter, AOTAA wrote about about the key challenges being faced by taxpayers and professionals:

01. It is to remind you that many High Courts in the past have passed orders directing the CBDT to ensure the release of ITR forms at the beginning of the year, but this year, CBDT miserably failed to follow the same. For example, the ITR-5 form of line schema was released on 8th of August, 2025. Similarly, Form No. 3CA, 3CB and 3CD were released 29th of July, 2025.

02. Technical glitches in the portal of Income Tax Department

It is not out of place to mention here that stakeholders are facing several glitches in the portal viz:-system error, frequent time out and mismatch between Form No.26-AS, AIS and TIS, as well as utility compatibility issues. Tax professionals are facing frequent schema updates, validation errors, and portal downtime. Each schema update requires taxpayers to revalidate and sometimes re-enter information, causing the duplication of effort and the wastage of valuable time. Moreover, users have frequently encountered slow portal responses, error messages while uploading returns and occasional rejections without adequate diagnostic information. These issues not only disrupt workflow but also cause anxiety among the taxpayers who fear penal consequences for delayed compliance.

03. Natural calamities have disrupted the flow of work

It is worthwhile to present before your Honour that this year, the people of Odisha have faced flood and rain due to low pressure, which has created a great loss for many. They have not only lost their property but also the lives of their relatives. Due to the disruption of electricity supply, internet connection, transportation facility, Tax Professionals are unable to file their ITR and TAR of their assessees within the time allowed under the statute.

04. Local festivals also hamper the filing of ITR and TAR

It is also important to note that many festivals will be celebrated by the stakeholders during these days. These festivals include Ganesh Puja, Mahalaya, Durga Puja, Laxmi Puja, Kali Puja, Dussehra, Navaratri. These will limit the availability of support staff in Tax Professionals' offices to file the TAR within the time frame.

05. ICAI has prescribed revised format of financial statements from this year

From this year, i.e. AY-2025-26, the ICAI has revised the format of financial statements for non-corporate assessees, which will take more time for the auditors to prepare the balance sheet, trading, profit & loss account, etc., as per the said format.

6. Filing returns under the GST

Tax Professionals are obliged to file the returns of their clients under the GST Law as well as other laws during the month of September, 2025.

Deadline extension to these dates

The members of AOTAA requested that due dates for filing of various forms as well as ITR to be extended to suitable dates as mentioned below for the benefit of stakeholders at large and assessees of Odisha in particular.

Tax Bar Association, Jodhpur extension of ITR due dates

Tax Bar Association, Jodhpur, has also requested for the extension of due dates for filing Income Tax Returns and Tax Audit Reports for the Financial Year 2024-25 (Assessment Year 2025-26).

“They have submitted that delays in the release of ITR utilities, technical glitches in the portal, and the introduction of new reporting formats have created considerable compliance difficulties for taxpayers and professionals. Due to these reasons, they have requested an extension of the due dates to provide sufficient time for accurate and stress-free filing.
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“I request you to kindly look into the matter and consider their representation appropriately,” Chaudhary writes in the letter.

Other bodies also demand for ITR deadline extension

Letters with request to extend ITR deadlines have also been sent by the Karnataka State Chartered Accountants Association (KSCAA), Advocates Tax Bar Association (ATBA), and the Central India Regional Council (CIRC) of ICAI, all citing repeated technical glitches on the ITR e-filing portal, delays in the release of utilities, the impact of natural calamities, festivals, and the new financial statement formats prescribed by ICAI. These organisations have also highlighted that compliance under GST and other laws, falling due in the same period, has further burdened taxpayers and professionals, making an extension of deadlines essential for smooth and accurate filing.

[The Economic Times]