GST Reforms, Festival Season: Tax Practitioners’ Bodies Seek Deadline Extension To File IT Returns

The rollout of GST 2.0, which essentially is a shift to a two rate structure, has brought cheer among consumers.

The changes will mean tax filing needs to be done carefully and this has led to confusion among the businesses especially the smaller traders and micro small and medium enterprises (MSMEs). The rejig in GST rate structure was announced on September 3.

The changes have led to inverted duty structure in several cases.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had termed the sweeping changes as 'GST Savings Festival'. 

The changes have led to complications-- instances of inverted duty structure have also risen. The limited filing time left for filing IT reports has made things worse. 

The overlapping of deadlines of meeting compliance of filing multiple returns and audit reports has made compliance difficult, they say.

The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) said in a letter to Ravi Agrawal, the chairman of the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT), ICAI president Charanjot Singh Nanda said that while last year, the process of notifying forms and utilities began in January and ended in June, this year the process began in April and ended in August.

While the deadline to file unaudited ITRs for individuals was extended from July 31 to September 15, the deadline to file the audit reports continues to be September 30. Normally, the gap is two months.

Moreover, there is no extension for assesses who are required to file returns till October 31. A similar window should also be provided to them as well.

Delay, Technical Glitches 

In a letter to Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Federation of Association of Maharashtra (FAM) wrote that this year there is a delay in release of utilities and unprecedented technical glitches on the portal since September 11.

“This has resulted in excessive load and stress on CA firms, auditors and their staff. There are high chances of unintentional errors, where ultimately the liabilities and penalties fall on trade and businesses. In light of these circumstances, we humbly request the government to extend the due date to file audit report to November 30, 2025,” said Jitendra Shah, president of FAM, in the letter.

“The months of September and October are peak business periods due to the ongoing festive season. Traders are fully occupied in managing stocks, sales and payments, making it even harder to simultaneously complete audit compliance,” said RK Gaur, national general secretary of Federation of All India Vyapar Mandal (FAIVM).

The Federation has suggested that, in view of these realities, the deadline for filing audit reports for the Assessment Year 2025-26 be extended by at least one month.

“The extension will provide the much-needed relief to the trading community, allow tax practitioners to complete audits diligently and ensure accuracy in reporting – thereby benefiting the taxpayers and the department alike. We are confident that this relief measure will ease compliance pressure, reduce the risk of errors, and reinforce the government’s commitment to ease of doing business,” said FAIVM’s letter to the chairman of CBDT.