Government extends Income Tax returns filing deadline to March 15, 2022

The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) on Tuesday extended the deadline for filing income tax returns (ITRs) for Assessment Year 2021-22 to March 15, 2022, according to a statement issued by the Ministry of Finance. The deadline for reporting ITRs for the 2020-21 fiscal year has been extended for the third time. The earlier deadline had been extended to December 31, 2021.

Many individuals and chartered accountants had requested an extension of the deadline to submit income tax returns in the run-up to the earlier December 31 deadline due to difficulties on the new income tax filing system.

According to the government statement, the Central Board of Direct Taxes has decided to further extend the due dates for filing Income Tax Returns and various reports of audit for the Assessment Year 2021-22 due to difficulties reported by taxpayers and other stakeholders due to COVID and in electronic filing of multiple accounts of the audit.

Apart from Income Tax Returns, the Central Board of Direct Taxes of the Ministry of Finance has also extended the deadline for filing different audit reports. The new deadline has been set for February 15, 2022. "The due date for filing Report of Audit under any provision of the Income Tax Act for the preceding year 2020-21, which was September 30, 2021... as extended to October 31, 2021, and January 15, 2022... is further prolonged to February 15, 2022," the circular said.

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• Central Board of Direct Taxes
• Income Tax
• Income Tax returns
• Ministry of Finance
• Audit report