ITR Filing Deadline Extended: Taxpayers Get One Extra Day To File Income Tax Return

ITR Filing Deadline Extended: The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has announced one-day extension for filing Income Tax Returns (ITRs) for the Assessment Year 2025-26. The new deadline is now September 16, 2025, instead of the earlier September 15 deadline. 

The deadline was extended further after several users reported technical glitches on the e-filing portal, incometax.gov.in.

“To facilitate further filings of ITRs, the due date has been extended by one day (16th September 2025),” the CBDT said in a press release late on September 15.

This is the second such extension of the income tax return filing deadline, wherein, the due date was pushed from the usual July 31 to September 15 deadline. Earlier, the extension was announced by the Income Tax Department to compensate for late release of ITR utilities and forms.

Key changes in ITR Forms and reporting requirements

The ITR Forms and excel utilities have been updated this year to incorporate the changes announced in the last two Budgets - 2024 and 2025. For instance, income (capital gains) earned from digital assets, like crypto, now has its own reporting slot and foreign bank account interest needs to be disclosed separately.

ITR-1 (Sahaj) and ITR-4 (Suham) have been updated to allow taxpayers to report long-term capital gains (LTCG) up to Rs 1.25 lakh, provided there is no carry forward or brought-forward capital loss.

Additionally, taxpayers need to be more careful now while claiming deductions under sections like 80C, 80D, etc. - for example, they need to put in policy numbers as well while claiming deductions for health premiums.

What are the penalties for missing the ITR deadline?

It is important to know that taxpayers who miss today’s deadline will risk paying penalties. Under Section 234A, interest will be charged on the unpaid tax by the original due date (now September 16).

Those who miss the deadline could end up:

- Paying penalties of up to Rs 5,000

- Interest on outstanding tax dues

- Facing delays in refund processing.

For those with income up to Rs 5 lakh, the penalty is limited to Rs 1,000.

Says Aarti Raote, Partner, Deloitte India, "Taxpayers should avail of this extra day to try and submit their tax returns in time as missing the deadline may have serious repercussions. The first is a penalty of upto Rs 5,000 for delayed filing. In addition there would be interest of 1 per cent on amount of taxes unpaid for each month till the return is filed. Further one would lose the chance to carry forward current year losses like capital losses if the return is filed beyond the due date."

She adds: These losses would otherwise be available for set-off against gains of future years. A bigger implication is also that one losses the right to switch to the tax regime that is more favourable to them and hence may land up paying a higher tax.

Any habitual delay in ITR filing could put you under scrutiny from the Income Tax Department, which may issue notices for non-compliance. However, such notices are issued only in extreme cases, as the risk increases for taxpayers who consistently miss ITR filing deadlines.

Common Mistakes To Avoid

Many taxpayers will be rushing to file their ITRs today, now that the CBDT has extended the deadline by just one day. ITRs filing in a rush could lead to some common mistakes that can be easily avoided otherwise. Here’s what you must check while filing the ITR today:

• Pick the right form as per your income and profession. There are different forms for multiple categories of taxpayers like salaried individuals, businesses, professionals, and those with capital gains.

• Do not forget to report your ‘income from other sources’ such as interest earned on fixed deposits, capital gains from stocks or property, crypto gains, etc.

• Cross check data from AIS/TIS and Form 26AS to ensure there is no mismatch in your reported income.

"One should expect refunds slower and taxpayers could be at a higher risk of receiving notices and scrutiny by the tax department. They may also face the risk of a scrutiny. Thus, it is ideal that the tax returns are filed in time," Raote states.