India is heading into tax crunch time again. With the ITR filing deadline of September 15, 2025 just days away, filings are lagging—5.47 crore returns so far versus 7.28 crore by this point last year. Two senior BJP MPs have asked the Finance Minister to push the date, citing late release of forms and a glitchy portal. The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) hasn’t budged yet. And going by the current signals, a second extension looks like a long shot.
The current due date already reflects an extension—moved from July 31 to September 15 for individuals, HUFs, and others who file ITR-1 to ITR-4 for Assessment Year 2025-26 (FY 2024-25). The government said the first extension was needed because return forms changed this year and systems needed more time to adapt. That part is true: ITR-2 and ITR-3 landed only in July, while ITR-5, ITR-6, and ITR-7 arrived in August. For many taxpayers and preparers, that left a shorter runway to prepare clean returns.
On top of that, the tax portal hasn’t been smooth. Users have flagged login issues, prefill errors, and slower processing of acknowledgments and refunds. None of this is new, but when forms come late and the platform is temperamental, people hesitate to hit submit. That hesitation shows up in the numbers—the filing gap versus last year is real.
That gap is fueling calls for more time. Bhartruhari Mahtab, who chairs the Finance Committee, and PP Chaudhary have both written to Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman urging another extension, forwarding pleas from tax bar associations in Odisha and Rajasthan. Their argument is simple: late forms plus tech glitches equals a compressed and stressful filing season that risks errors and penalties.
Will the deadline move again?
As of now, there’s no official word from CBDT. Tax filing platforms and professional bodies are reading the tea leaves and don’t see clear signs of another extension. That doesn’t mean one is impossible—New Delhi has announced extensions at the eleventh hour before—but the bar is high when the date has already moved once.
Why the reluctance? The tax calendar is tightly stacked. Push September returns further, and you collide with tax audit timelines, the October 31 due date for many audited taxpayers, TDS/TCS cycles, and year-end system locks. Compliance starts bunching up, which only creates a bigger pile-up later. The government also doesn’t want a new normal where the July-September window becomes a rolling set of extensions every year.
There’s also the policy signal. After the pandemic-era extensions, the tax department has tried to re-anchor deadlines and keep the system predictable. Changing forms mid-cycle does complicate that, but the first extension to September 15 was meant to cover those bumps—system development, schema updates, and testing.
Could the low filing count tip the scales? Possibly, but officials tend to look at daily filing velocity in the final week. Historically, India’s last-minute surge is huge. If the portal stays stable and daily volumes spike, the gap can shrink fast. If the system sputters or outages hit close to the date, the pressure for relief rises.
Bottom line for taxpayers: waiting for a fresh notification is a gamble. If there is no extension, missing September 15 triggers fees and interest right away. If an extension appears later, you lose nothing by filing early—you only lock in your position and get in the refund queue sooner.
Who exactly is covered by the September 15 deadline? Salaried individuals, pensioners, freelancers, HUFs, and small businesses using ITR-1 to ITR-4 where no audit is required. Those needing audit generally have later due dates for their return (October 31), but their tax audit reports have their own cut-offs before that. The current debate is really about non-audit filers who usually wrap up by July 31 in a normal year.
A quick note on why the forms came late: the department has revised formats and validation rules this year, which affects back-end schemas and prefill logic. That’s not instantly visible to users, but it explains why software vendors and the portal team needed more time. The trade-off is predictable—it helps data consistency but shifts the peak workload into late August and September.
What to do if you still haven’t filed
If you’re still not done, focus on accuracy and speed. Here’s a clean way to finish without tripping penalties or creating mismatches that lead to notices later.
- Collect the essentials: Form 16 (salary), Form 16A (bank/NBFC interest), and your Annual Information Statement (AIS) and Form 26AS to cross-check TDS/TCS and reported transactions.
- Match income heads: Salary, interest, dividends, capital gains (including broker contract notes and 10BE statements if applicable), rental income, and other income like freelance receipts or winnings.
- Pick your regime deliberately: Old vs new regime affects slabs, deductions, and exemptions. Salaried taxpayers can switch when filing (unless they have business income in which case switch rules are tighter).
- Claim what’s valid: Section 80C (PF, PPF, ELSS, principal home loan), 80D (health insurance), 80CCD(1B) (NPS), and HRA/LTA if you’re in the old regime and eligible. Keep proofs. Don’t over-claim; mismatches trigger scrutiny.
- Reconcile interest and dividends: Brokerages and banks may report quarterly. Make sure your totals match the AIS entries or add an explanation where the portal allows if timing differs.
- Compute tax and interest: If you have self-assessment tax to pay, the system will auto-calc interest under Sections 234A/234B/234C. Pay it before submitting so your return isn’t treated as defective.
- Pre-validate your bank account: Refunds only move to a pre-validated account. Add IFSC and account number correctly and confirm the status shows “validated”.
- E-verify on time: You have 30 days from filing to e-verify. Use Aadhaar OTP, net banking, bank EVC, or demat EVC. If you miss e-verification, the return is treated as not filed.
Now the part everyone asks about—the cost of missing September 15:
- Late fee under Section 234F: Up to Rs 5,000. If your total income is up to Rs 5 lakh, the fee is capped at Rs 1,000.
- Interest under Section 234A: 1% per month (or part of a month) on the unpaid tax from the day after the due date until you file and pay.
- Interest under Sections 234B and 234C: If your advance tax was short or paid late, expect more interest at 1% per month.
- Carry-forward of losses: Filing after the due date blocks carry-forward of most business and capital losses. House property loss carry-forward is generally still allowed. If you trade in stocks or crypto, this matters a lot.
- Refund interest: If you file after the due date, interest on refunds (Section 244A) starts later—usually from the filing date instead of April 1—so you get less.
If you miss September 15, you can still file a belated return up to December 31, 2025, with the late fee and interest. You can also revise your return within the same window if you spot a mistake. Beyond that, the “updated return” route under Section 139(8A) remains open for up to two years, but it’s expensive—an extra 25% or 50% of the tax and interest, depending on when you file it, and it’s not meant for claiming new refunds.
How risky is waiting for an extension? It depends on your case. If your file is clean—salaried with Form 16 and small interest income—delaying offers no benefit. If you have complex capital gains and are still reconciling broker statements, you might feel the pressure to wait, but filing a rushed, wrong return can be worse. Under-reporting can draw a penalty of 50% of tax (and 200% for misreporting). If you must wait, keep your data in draft, pay any obvious tax shortfall early to curb interest, and be ready to file at short notice.
One more practical point: refunds have been slow for some users due to account validation issues. Make sure your name on the bank account matches what the portal expects, especially if you recently changed banks or IFSC codes. If you’ve changed PAN details or your name format, double-check that the prefill shows the same name order as your bank records.
What about seniors and those below the threshold? If your total income is below the basic exemption, no late fee applies. If your total income does not exceed Rs 5 lakh, the late fee is capped at Rs 1,000. Still, file on time if you’re expecting a refund. Filing late can delay the refund and cut down the interest you earn on it.
Non-residents should look closely at foreign income and asset disclosures. Even if tax is paid overseas, reporting requirements can be strict. Get the TRC/foreign tax credit documents in order and cross-check foreign bank interest and dividends against AIS entries.
For small business owners and professionals, books reconciliation matters more this year. Match turnover, expenses, and TDS credits from clients. If you switched regimes or opted for presumptive taxation, confirm you meet the conditions and disclosure requirements. This is where late form changes tend to bite—schema validations can reject a return that looks fine on paper but fails a new rule online.
Why are the filings lagging this year? Three reasons keep coming up among preparers. First, late forms meant many taxpayers didn’t start until mid-August. Second, the portal’s occasional hiccups made people cautious about submitting large or complex returns. Third, many salaried taxpayers waited for corrections to show up in AIS/26AS—TDS statements due by May 31 take time to reflect properly, and any mismatch makes people hit pause. These delays compound into a September pile-up.
Will CBDT weigh the 5.47 crore versus 7.28 crore gap as a stand-alone reason to extend? They’ll look at daily filing throughput in the final stretch and portal stability. If the system holds and filings surge, an extension is unlikely. If instability shows up in the last week, pressure for relief grows. That’s the real swing factor.
If you’re a salaried taxpayer with Form 16, one smart move is to use the prefill, then verify each head against source documents. Don’t just accept the prefill for interest and dividends—banks often report in different cycles, and small differences can add up. If you find a mismatch that you can’t reconcile immediately, add the missing income and file now rather than risk a notice. You can always revise by December 31 if a corrected statement arrives.
Freelancers and gig workers should reconcile 194M/194J TDS entries from platforms and clients. If TDS has been deducted but not yet visible in AIS or 26AS, reach out to the payer to confirm they’ve filed their TDS statements correctly. Claim only what is reflected to avoid mismatch notices, or keep clear documentation if the portal allows a note.
Home loan borrowers should check interest certificates from lenders for both deduction and house property loss set-off. If you’re in the old regime, interest on a self-occupied home is capped for set-off, with the rest carried forward subject to rules. Errors here are common and lead to small but annoying adjustments later.
One question that keeps popping up: what if you pay tax now but file later? Paying self-assessment tax before the due date helps reduce interest, but it doesn’t stop the late fee under Section 234F if you file after September 15. So yes, pay early if you know you owe, but aim to file on time to avoid the fee and protect loss carry-forwards.
Could there be harsher consequences than fees and interest? In rare cases, yes. Persistent non-filing, especially where large tax is due, can invite prosecution under Section 276CC. That’s uncommon for small, genuine delays, but the law allows it for serious cases. The point is not to scare you—just don’t treat the deadline as optional.
If CBDT does announce an extension, expect it to be tight—weeks, not months. It would most likely come with a clear rationale tied to form changes or portal stability, not just low filing counts. Watch for official notifications, not just social media forwards. Until then, plan as if September 15 stands.
To wrap your process quickly, work in this order today: confirm regime, reconcile AIS/26AS with your documents, compute taxes and pay any shortfall, submit the return, and e-verify the same day. Keep a PDF copy of the filed return and the tax payment challan. Set a reminder to check refund status after a couple of weeks. If a mismatch notice comes, respond within the portal timelines—it’s easier to fix early than to escalate later.
The next few days will decide whether the tax department blinks. Right now, the safer bet is to finish your filing, keep proof tidy, and move on. If relief comes, great. If not, you’ve avoided the fee, capped your interest, and kept your loss carry-forwards intact.