Tax Consultant
1932 Points
Posted on 23 September 2026
As of September 23, CBDT has not issued any notification extending the September 30 audit report deadline for AY 2026-27. The statutory deadline stands.
What we know:
- September 30, 2026 remains the due date for tax audit reports (Form 3CA / 3CB / 3CD) under Section 44AB.
- October 31, 2026 remains the ITR due date for taxpayers subject to audit.
- Multiple professional bodies including ICAI have petitioned CBDT for an extension to October 31, 2026. No response yet.
- Last year (AY 2025-26), the deadline was extended to October 31, 2025. This creates expectations but no guarantee.
Practical advice:
- Do NOT assume an extension will come. Keep working to September 30.
- If CBDT grants an extension, it will appear on incometax.gov.in as a notification. Check the official portal, not news.
- Missing September 30 without an extension: Section 271B penalty is the lower of Rs 1.5 lakh or 0.5% of turnover/gross receipts.
This [tax deadlines checklist for September 2026](https://taxgarden.in/blog/september-2026-tax-deadlines-tax-audit-advance-tax-tds-checklist) has all the pending due dates including the advance tax and TDS deposit deadlines in the same window.