Supplementary representation (in continuation of ours dated 22 September 2026) for extension of the specified date for furnishing Tax Audit Reports u/s 44AB and other audit reports for AY 2026-27 from 30 September 2026 to 31 October 2026, and of the return due date in audit cases from 31 October 2026 to 30 November 2026

BHARTIYA VAISHYA GLOBAL FOUNDATION

Ref. No.: BVGF/CBDT/2026-27/002                        Date: 28 September 2026

To,

The Respected Finance Minister/ Minister/ Chairman, Central Board of Direct Taxes,

Department of Revenue, Ministry of Finance, North Block, New Delhi – 110001

Copy to: Hon'ble Union Minister of Finance; Hon'ble Minister of State for Finance; the Revenue Secretary; the Pr. DGIT (Systems); the Pr. CCIT, Uttar Pradesh (West).

Subject: Supplementary representation (in continuation of ours dated 22 September 2026) for extension of the specified date for furnishing Tax Audit Reports u/s 44AB and other audit reports for AY 2026-27 from 30 September 2026 to 31 October 2026, and of the return due date in audit cases from 31 October 2026 to 30 November 2026

Respected Sir/Madam,

Bhartiya Vaishya Global Foundation represents the Vaishya business community across India – traders, manufacturers, MSMEs, proprietary concerns, partnership firms, family-owned companies and the professionals who serve them. A large share of the assessees covered by tax audit u/s 44AB comes from this community. This is in continuation of our representation dated 22 September 2026, which we reiterate, and places further facts on record.

Nationwide demand. More than forty representations have now reached the Finance Ministry and the Board from every region: among them the CA Association, Jalandhar (6 Sep); Rajasthan Tax Consultants Association (8 Sep); Punjab Accountants Association (11 Sep); AIMTPA (16 Sep); Karnataka Taxpayers Association and Tax Bar Association, Guwahati (21 Sep); the Tax Bars of Ludhiana, Bhilwara, Jhalawar and Jodhpur (the last forwarded by the Hon’ble MP); Bikaner Tax Consultants Association; MP Tax Consultants Association; Maharashtra Tax Practitioners’ Association; Malad Chamber of Tax Consultants; Sales Tax Bar Association; Tax Practitioners’ Association, Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar; Begusarai Tax Practitioners’ Association; and CAIT, which sought two months. Such unanimity from Punjab to Assam and Karnataka to Bihar shows the difficulty is real and general. The Rajasthan Tax Consultants Association has also filed Writ Petition CW/54522/2026 before the Hon’ble Rajasthan High Court, listed on 25 September (when the Board sought time) and now fixed for 28 September. Last year that Court, in the Bhilwara Tax Bar PIL, directed extension to 31 October 2025 and the Board then extended it nationally. It would be better for the Board to decide now than to await a judicial direction on the last day.

9.       DSC token migration from 21 September 2026. Under the CCA’s directions, no new or renewed DSC can be downloaded on the older FIPS 140-2 tokens from 21 September; only FIPS 140-3 tokens are permitted, so existing tokens are useless for renewal. Every DSC expiring or newly needed in September required a new token, fresh verification, re-registration on the portals and new signing software (emSigner 3.3 on GST, per GSTN advisory of 19 September). Supply is limited and distribution in remote districts, small towns and rural areas is slow; taxpayers there must travel to district headquarters merely to be able to sign their audit report. A change in the signing infrastructure nine days before the deadline is itself a ground for extension.

10.     Elections in Rajasthan. Rajasthan, with one of the largest concentrations of the Vaishya trading community, has been under the model code of conduct since 19 August 2026 for elections to 309 municipal bodies (1.44 crore voters, 41 districts): polling on 9 and 11 September, counting on 14th, mayoral elections on 21–22 September, with panchayat polls following up to 15 November. Businessmen were engaged as candidates, agents and voters; bank and government staff were on election duty; holidays were declared. Offices in the State functioned only partially through September.

11.     No share of relief for audit cases. The Act gave non-audit taxpayers four months and audit cases seven; moving the non-audit date to 31 August gave the whole relief to non-audit taxpayers and the whole cost to audit cases, which lost a month of professional capacity while keeping the same end date. Equity requires a corresponding shift.

12.     Health and welfare. Professionals and staff have worked 14–16 hours a day for three weeks across two statutes, new utilities, a new accounts format, a new DSC regime, festivals, rain and elections; every report needs the signing member’s personal UDIN and cannot be delegated. A calendar that can be met only at the cost of health and family life is not a working calendar.

13.     Clients reach the professional only in the last days. Most MSMEs have no qualified accountants; their books close only after GST reconciliation, bank statements, 26AS/AIS and confirmations are in hand, all of which come late. The majority therefore bring finalised books to the professional in the last 10–15 days. This is the structure of small business in India, not negligence, and the audit cannot begin before the books arrive.

14.     Checkpoints are very high; quality is the Government’s own expectation. Form 3CD has 44 clauses and well over a hundred sub-items – clause 44 GST break-up, 43B(h) MSME dates, disallowances (cl. 21/26), 269SS/T/ST (cl. 31), TDS/TCS (cl. 34), stock, depreciation, GST-turnover reconciliation – under a Guidance Note of several hundred pages, with personal UDIN and exposure u/s 271J and ICAI discipline. The Board designed this detail because it wants reliable data; the profession will not dilute a single checkpoint to meet a date. Time is the only variable. Faced with fixed checkpoints and compressed time, the honest choice is more time or a qualified/incomplete report; the Board should prefer the former.

Net effect: of 26 nominal working days in September, 13 overlapped with CCFS-2026 filings, 16 with the Jain festivals, 7 carried other statutory due dates, the last 10 days were hit by the DSC migration, Rajasthan was under election throughout, rain and portal disruption were intermittent. The specified date has ceased to serve its purpose; it now produces a rush to upload rather than a careful audit.

C. No loss to revenue; the Government as facilitator

Tax is collected through advance tax and self-assessment tax, not through the audit report. If required, the Board may continue interest u/s 234A where self-assessment tax exceeds a threshold, as done earlier. A rushed audit, by contrast, produces revised reports, mismatch notices, scrutiny, appeals and Section 271B/273B litigation that burden the Department as much as the taxpayer. The number of reports already uploaded shows only that the portal accepts filings, not that auditors had time to report correctly. A smooth portal does not answer grounds 1–6 and 8. Time since April was not usable because the format, forms and utilities were not settled until August–September. We agree extensions must not become routine – hence prayers (e) and (f) below.

The Government is a facilitator: it frames rules to enable compliance and to promote the welfare and happiness of the public, and its own Taxpayers' Charter promises fair, reasonable treatment and a lower cost of compliance. A due date is a tool of administration, not an end in itself; when the Government's own actions (format change, late utilities, MCA extension, DSC migration) have made the date unworkable, the facilitator adjusts it. The Government is not a businessman and penalties are not revenue. Section 271B exists to deter wilful default, not to collect 0.5% of turnover from lakhs of honest traders and MSMEs for a delay they could not avoid. Heavy penalties in these circumstances would erode the trust the Department has built; an extension protects it at no cost to the exchequer.

D. Prayer

(a)     extend the specified date for Tax Audit Reports u/s 44AB for AY 2026-27 from 30 September 2026 to 31 October 2026;

(b)     similarly extend other audit reports due on 30 September 2026, including Forms 10B and 10BB;

(c)     extend the return due date in audit cases (including ITR-6) from 31 October 2026 to 30 November 2026, with consequential relief for Form 3CEB / transfer-pricing cases;

(d)     announce the decision immediately, today, by official order – only two days remain and a last-day decision gives no real relief;

(e)     from next year, release and freeze all ITR forms, schemas, utilities and validation rules by 30 April; and

(f)      permanently realign the calendar to 31 October for audit reports and 30 November for audit-case returns;

(g)     grant the extension uniformly for the whole country by a single order, not State-wise; and

(h)     in the alternative, if the date is not extended, direct by circular that no penalty u/s 271B be initiated for reports furnished by 31 October 2026, and that such reports and returns be treated as filed in time for Sections 234A, 234F and 139(5).

We are confident the Board will consider this representation favourably in the interest of lakhs of honest taxpayers, the business community, the profession and effective tax administration, and would be glad to meet the Board's officers if required.

Thanking you,

Yours faithfully,

For Bhartiya Vaishya Global Foundation

Sd. 

Vinay Mittal

National President   
Place: Ghaziabad

Link to download
https://mytaxexpert.co.in/uploads/1790568165_RequestforExtensionofDueDateforFilingTaxAuditReportsTARandIncomeTaxReturnsITR1Copy1.pdf