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

Taxpayers whose accounts have to be audited will get three more weeks to file their income tax return for Assessment Year 2026-27. The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT), which works under the Ministry of Finance, has moved the last date from 31 October 2026 to 21 November 2026.

Who gets the extra time

This is not a blanket relief for every filer. It is limited to the class of assessees placed at Serial No. 2 of the table that sits below Explanation 2 to sub-section (1) of section 139 of the Income-tax Act, 1961. In plain terms, these are taxpayers who must get their books audited before the return goes in. Salaried individuals and other filers who face no audit requirement are outside the scope of this announcement.

The audit report date shifts as well

A return of this kind cannot be filed until the audit report is on record, so the Board has moved that deadline too. The 'specified date' for furnishing the report of audit under the Act now falls on 21 October 2026 in place of 30 September 2026. The gap of roughly one month between the report and the return has therefore been preserved rather than squeezed.

The old and the new dates

Why the change matters

Audit cases are the heaviest part of the filing season, because the return rests on work an auditor has to finish first. By moving the report date and the return date together, the Board has handed the professionals who certify these accounts additional working days while keeping the sequence between the two filings intact. The revised calendar applies to Assessment Year 2026-27 alone.

What happens next

The Board has said that a formal order or notification giving effect to the change will be issued on its own. Until that paper appears, the announcement records the decision and the legal instrument carrying it follows separately. Aspirants should note that CBDT is the authority which administers direct taxes in the country, and that section 139 of the Income-tax Act, 1961 is the provision under which returns of income are filed and their due dates are fixed.