Court ruling brings relief: ITR filing deadline extended beyond Oct 31, check new date

New Delhi/Chandigarh (The Uttam Hindu): In a major relief to tax audit return filers, the Punjab and Haryana High Court and the Himachal Pradesh High Court today issued significant rulings. Both high courts extended the deadline for filing income tax returns (ITR) from October 31, 2025, to November 30, 2025. This decision comes after the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) refused to extend the deadline nationwide despite a previous order from the Gujarat High Court.

The Punjab and Haryana High Court delivered this decision while hearing five separate writ petitions from Punjab and Haryana, including those filed by the Tax Bar Associations of Amritsar and Jalandhar. The Himachal Pradesh High Court delivered this decision while hearing a writ petition filed by Advocate Vishal Mohan.

This order comes days after the Gujarat High Court, on October 13, directed the CBDT to extend the deadline for tax audit cases till November 30.

CA Sanjay Agarwal, petitioner from Pathankot Tax Bar Association, said the court reiterated what the Gujarat High Court had said that there should be a gap of one month between the tax audit report (October 31) and the date of ITR filing.

During the hearing on Tuesday, the Punjab and Haryana High Court reprimanded the CBDT lawyer for not complying with the Gujarat High Court's order. The court categorically stated that if the due date had not yet been extended, it was "clearly a contempt of the High Court order." The CBDT lawyer reportedly requested more time, stating that the matter was still under consideration by the CBDT Chairman.