On 28 September 2026 the Central Board of Direct Taxes issued Circular No. 07/2026, extending the timelines for tax audit reports and returns of income for assessment year 2026-27, which is the year for income of FY 2025-26 under the Income-tax Act, 1961. This note sets out what the Circular says and what it leaves alone.
The new dates
- Return of income: extended from 31 October 2026 to 21 November 2026.
- Report of audit (the “specified date”): extended from 30 September 2026 to 21 October 2026, as a consequence.
The Circular is issued under section 119 of the 1961 Act read with section 536 of the Income-tax Act, 2025. The audit report date moves because it is fixed by reference to the return date: it falls one month before it.
Who is covered
The Circular applies to the persons referred to at serial number 2 of the table below Explanation 2 to section 139(1) of the 1961 Act. As that table is set out in the Finance Act, 2026 amendment, the category includes companies, assessees other than companies whose accounts are required to be audited under the Act or under any other law, and partners of firms whose accounts are required to be audited (and their spouses, where section 5A applies), in each case where section 92E does not apply.
What is not changed
- The Circular does not name the other categories, so their dates are not affected by it. Check the dates for persons who must report transactions under section 92E, which the department has stated as 30 November 2026.
- It does not change the requirement to get the accounts audited, or the contents of Forms 3CA, 3CB, and 3CD.
- It does not touch tax year 2026-27, for which tax audit is under section 63 of the 2025 Act and reported in Form No. 26.
The formal order
The press release says that a formal order or notification is being issued separately. The Circular itself is the document to rely on for the dates, and the formal order should be checked on the Income Tax Department website when it is published.
What to do with the extra time
- Confirm that the entity falls in the covered category, rather than assuming so from the form number of the return.
- Use the three weeks to clear open audit queries and to reconcile TDS and TCS statements; see the tax audit countdown.
- Fix a date for the client’s acceptance of the report on the portal, since the report is not complete until the assessee accepts it.
- Do not let the later return date delay payment of any tax that is already due.
Records to keep ready
- A copy of the Circular and the press release, with the date they were retrieved
- The audit data sheets, working papers, and queries log
- The calendar showing 21 October 2026 and 21 November 2026 against the entity