Court held that the CBDT must extend the due date for tax filings to ensure compliance with statutory provisions, addressing the hardships faced by practitioners.

LISA GILL, J.

1. This order shall dispose of four writ petitions i.e. CWP Nos. 28685, 28440, 29131 and 29804 of 2025, which are taken up together at request and with consent of learned counsel for parties.

2. Petitioners seek a direction to respondents to extend the due date for filing of tax audit reports for a reasonable period from 30.09.2025 and as a necessary corollary to further extend the due date for filing tax returns. Petitioner in CWP No. 29131 of 2025 also seeks extension of deadline for renewal of registration under Section 12 of Income Tax Act, 1961 (for short ‘the Act’).

3. Learned counsel for petitioners submitted that audit reports and tax returns are mandatorily to be e-filled. Forms of e-filing of audit report and tax returns were made available effectively by the Department only in August, 2025, thereby leading to considerable reduction of time period available to petitioners for filing tax audit reports. Certain changes were carried out in respect to tax audit reports vide notification dated 28.03.2025, however, e-filing utility was made available on 14.08.2025. Department itself acknowledged substantial changes and time required for system readiness when it extended due date for filing of tax returns in certain categories of persons other than Companies, Firms and individuals, whose accounts are not required to be audited (non-audit cases) from 31.07.2025 to 15.09.2025, as per press release dated 27.05.2025. Facts and circumstances are, thus, a cause of genuine hardship to assessees whose accounts are required to be audited in terms of Section 44AB of the Act. Reference was made to order dated 29.09.2015 passed by this High Court in CWP-19770-2015 wherein due date for e-filing of returns had been extended, for which CBDT was directed to issue notification/instructions under Section 119 of the Act.

4. At this stage, it is relevant to refer to Section 139 (1) and Explanation 2 Clause (a) to Section 139 (1) of the Act, which read as under:-

139 (1) Every person-

(a) being a company [or a firm]; or

(b) being a person other than a company [or a firm], if his total income or the total income of any other person in respect of which he is assessable under this Act during the previous year exceeded the maximum amount which is not chargeable to income-tax, shall on or before the due date, furnish a return of income or the income of such other person during the previous year, in the prescribed form and verified in the prescribed manner and setting forth such particular as may be prescribed :

Provided that a person referred to in clause (b), who is not required to furnish a return under this sub-section and residing in such area as may be specified by the Board in this behalf by notification in the Official Gazette, and who [during the previous year incurs an expenditure of fifty thousand rupees or more towards consumption of electricity or] or at any time during the previous year fulfills any one of the following conditions, namely:-

(i) is in occupation of an immovable property exceeding a specified floor area, whether by way of ownership, tenancy or otherwise, as may be specified by the Board in this behalf; or

(ii) is the owner or the lessee of a motor vehicle other than a two- wheeled motor vehicle, whether having any detachable side car having extra wheel attached to such two-wheeled motor vehicle or not; or

(iii) [***]

(iv) has incurred expenditure for himself or any other person on travel to any foreign country; or

(v) is the holder of a credit card, not being an "add-on" card, issued by any bank or institution; or

(vi) is a member of a club where entrance fee charged is twenty- five thousand rupees or more,