Income tax returns (ITR) for the fiscal year 2024–2025 (assessment year 2025–2026) must be filed by September 15th.
In order to account for structural changes and utility deployment delays, the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) proposed this window to replace the previous one that only permitted submissions until July 31.
If your accounts need to be audited, the due date for filing your Income Tax Return (ITR) is September 30, 2025 — this deadline has not changed.
Why it matters: Filing before the deadline helps you avoid extra interest charges or penalties.
Penalties (Section 234F):
If your total income is below ₹5 lakh, the penalty for late filing is ₹1,000.
If your total income is above ₹5 lakh, the penalty is ₹5,000.
Filing after the deadline:
You can still file a late or revised ITR until December 31, 2025.
If you miss that too, you can file an updated return (ITR-U) until March 31, 2030 (but with additional tax and interest as per rules).
The government extended the ITR filing deadline because many taxpayers were facing difficulties filing on time.
Reason 1: The updated ITR forms and the e-filing facility on the Income Tax Department’s portal were made available later than usual.
Reason 2: TDS (Tax Deducted at Source) details in Form 26AS and the Annual Information Statement (AIS) were updated late, making it hard for taxpayers to match their income and claim accurate tax credits.
Because of these delays, many people requested an extension so they could file correctly and avoid mistakes. The government agreed and extended the deadline.
If you’re eligible for an income tax refund, you could receive up to 33% higher interest under Section 244A because the interest is calculated from April 1, even with the extended deadline. This means your refund will earn interest for a longer period. However, this extra interest is taxable and must be reported in your ITR for the next year.
The Income Tax Department has made it easier to file ITR-1 (Sahaj) and ITR-4 (Sugam) for FY 2024-25 by introducing a new Excel-based offline utility.
This tool allows employees, pensioners, freelancers, and small business owners to prepare their returns even without internet access.
You just need to fill in the details in the Excel file, which will then generate a JSON file.
Once you have the internet, you can upload this JSON file to the income tax e-filing portal and validate your return.