CBDT Extends ITR Due Date for AY 2026-27 to 21 November 2026

The correct answer is 21 November 2026. For the class of taxpayers who must get their accounts audited, the statutory last date to file the return of income for Assessment Year 2026-27 was 31 October 2026, and the Central Board of Direct Taxes has now pushed it forward by three weeks. Option A is wrong because 31 October 2026 is the old date, the one being replaced, and quoting it would mean ignoring the extension altogether. Option C is wrong because no date at the end of November was announced; the Board fixed a specific day and that day is the twenty-first, not the thirtieth. Option D is wrong because December does not enter this announcement at all; the only December reference an aspirant might confuse it with belongs to other filing windows and not to this order. Along with the return date, the date for furnishing the audit report was also moved, which is the second half of the same decision.

The correct answer is 21 October 2026. Because a return in an audit case rests on an auditor's report, the Board shifted the report deadline along with the return deadline, and the report is now due on the twenty-first day of October. Option A is wrong because 30 September 2026 was the earlier date for the report, the one that has just been superseded. Option C is wrong because 31 October 2026 was the old due date for the return itself, not for the report, so it belongs to the other half of the announcement and has also been replaced. Option D is wrong because 21 November 2026 is the new due date for filing the return of income, which comes one month after the report is due; mixing the two dates up is the commonest error in this question. The order is therefore report first, return afterwards, with about a month between them.

The correct answer is the Central Board of Direct Taxes, usually written as CBDT, which functions under the Ministry of Finance and administers direct taxes such as income tax. It is CBDT that fixed the new dates for the return of income and for the report of audit under the Income-tax Act, 1961. Option A is wrong because the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs deals with indirect levies such as customs duty and goods and services tax, and has no role in income tax filing dates. Option C is wrong because the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal is an appellate forum that hears disputes; it decides appeals and does not issue filing calendars. Option D is wrong because the Comptroller and Auditor General audits the accounts of government, not the returns of private taxpayers, and cannot extend a statutory due date. A formal order giving effect to the extension is being issued separately by the Board.