India’s apex income tax regulatory body, the Ministry of Finance’s Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT), declared on Monday, 28 July 2025, that it is relaxing the time limit for income tax returns (ITRs), which were erroneously rejected by CPC up to 31 March 2024.
“The matter has been considered by the Board and it has been decided to relax the timeframe prescribed in second provison to sub-section (1) of section 143 of the Income-tax Act, 1961 (the Act) in exercise of its powers under section 119 of the Act. The Board hereby directs that returns of income filed electronically up to 31.03.2024, which have been erroneously invalidated by CPC, shall now be processed,” said CBDT in the release.
Why did CBDT relax the time limits?
CBDT’s move is only to accommodate the mistakenly deemed invalid filings over technical reasons while processing the returns for different assessment years.
According to the notice, the ‘erroneously invalidated’ return filings were brought to the CBDT’s attention after many taxpayers filed their grievances with the Centralised Processing Centre (CPC) Bengaluru.
“The time period for processing these returns has lapsed, latest being 31.12.2024 for AY 2023-24. Therefore, these returns need to be validated and processed as per law,” said the tax body in the statement.
The Income Tax Department will also send an official communication to the concerned taxpayers under Section 143(1) of the I-T Act by 31 March 2026 for processing their income tax returns.
After the returns are processed, the Income Tax Dept. will issue the refund with interest if applicable in certain cases. However, if the taxpayer’s PAN card is not linked with their Aadhaar number, then no amount of full or partial refunds will be issued.
“In those cases where PAN-Aadhaar linkage is not found, refund of any amount of tax or part thereof, due under the provisions of the Act shall not be made,” said the Income Tax Department.
ITR 2025 Deadline
Indian taxpayers are now preparing themselves to file their income tax returns for the Financial Year 2024-25, i.e., assessment year 2025-26. However, the Income Tax Department has extended the filing deadline to 15 September 2025.
PAN card, Aadhaar card, Bank passbook, Tax deduction certificates, Annual Information Statement (AIS), Taxpayer Information Summary (TIS), Investment proofs and deductions, Capital gains and asset statements, Foreign income and assets documentations, and Past tax returns and audit reports, are the documents required to be kept ready before filing income tax returns.
Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute professional tax advice. Readers should consult a qualified tax advisor for guidance specific to their financial circumstances.