#ExtendTaxAuditDueDate: A plea for quality over rush 🙏
Every year, the last week of September turns into a pressure cooker for Chartered Accountants and tax professionals. This year, the squeeze is worse. We are not asking for a favour. We are asking for the time to do a proper audit.
Where things stand
- Tax audit report (Sec 44AB, AY 2026-27): due 30 September 2026
- ITR for audit cases: due 31 October 2026
- No CBDT extension has been announced so far
Why the current timeline doesn’t work
1️⃣ Compressed calendar. The 31 August deadline for non-audit business and professional ITRs leaves practitioners barely a month between two heavy compliance peaks.
2️⃣ Late utilities. Schemas and utilities for audit-heavy returns like ITR-6 arrived late in the season, shrinking the working window.
3️⃣ Expanded reporting. Additional reconciliations (TDS/TCS, gross receipts, Clause 34 and more) need careful verification, not a last-minute upload.
4️⃣ Portal validation issues. Resolving mismatches and technical errors takes time we don’t have.
5️⃣ Client dependency. Auditors can’t finish until clients supply complete records, and many are still sending them.
6️⃣ Overlapping deadlines. GST, company and other statutory work all land in the same weeks.
A tax audit is not an uploading exercise. It means verifying books, financial statements, statutory dues, TDS, related-party transactions, depreciation, disallowances, MSME payments, loans and deposits, and turnover reconciliations. Rushed audits risk errors, incorrect disclosures and avoidable notices for taxpayers.
Precedent exists. In 2025, CBDT extended the audit report deadline from 30 September to 31 October after representations from professional bodies. Relief has been granted before, and it worked.
Our ask 🙏
✅ Extend the tax audit report due date from 30 Sept to 31 October 2026
✅ Give corresponding relief on the ITR deadline for audit cases, with many bodies suggesting 30 November 2026
✅ Extend related dates for trust and institution audit reports (Forms 10B/10BB)
To taxpayers and fellow professionals: representations are not orders. Until CBDT formally notifies a change, 30 September remains the legal deadline. Please keep records ready and keep working to the existing date.
To the authorities: more time means better compliance, fewer errors and fewer rectifications later.
FCA, CWM (AAFM-US), CBV, CIFRS, R-ID, B.COM (H), RV* (IBBI)
Managing Partner at Ankit Gulgulia & Associates, Chartered Accountants. The Firm was setup in 2011 and has offices in Delhi NCR. AGA provides professional services to a large number of Clients both in India and Internationally.
AGA is supported by a well experienced team which include Chartered Accountants, Management Graduates, Company Secretaries, Cost Accountants, Valuers etc.