New Delhi, Sep 16 : The Central Board of Direct Taxes has decided to further extend the due date for filing the Income Tax Returns (ITRs) for Assessment Year (AY) 2025-26 from September 15 (Monday) to September 16 (Tuesday), a notification read.

Taking to X late on Monday night, Income Tax India, which is the official account of the Income Tax Department, wrote: "KIND ATTENTION TAXPAYERS! The due date for filing of Income Tax Returns (ITRs) for AY 2025-26, originally due on 31st July 2025, was extended to 15th September 2025.

"The Central Board of Direct Taxes has decided to further extend the due date for filing these ITRs for AY 2025-26 from 15th September, 2025 to 16th September, 2025. To enable changes in the utilities, the e-filing portal will remain in maintenance mode from 12:00 AM to 02:30AM on 16th September 2025."

Earlier, the Income Tax Department on Monday said that over 7 crore income tax returns have already been filed for the AY 2025-26, as the deadline of September 15 drew to a close.

In a post on social media platform X, the Department thanked taxpayers and tax professionals for helping achieve this milestone and urged those who have not yet filed their returns to do so at the earliest.

'More than 7 crore ITRs have been filed so far and still counting. We extend our gratitude to taxpayers and tax professionals for helping us reach this milestone, and urge all those who haven't filed ITR for AY 2025-26, to file their ITR,' it said.

The Department also reassured taxpayers that help is available round-the-clock for filing returns, making tax payments, and availing other related services.

'Our helpdesk is functioning on a 24x7 basis, and we are providing support through calls, live chats, WebEx sessions & Twitter/X,' it added.

The clarification comes a day after the Department dismissed rumours of another extension of the deadline.

Previously, on Sunday, it had termed reports of the due date being pushed to September 30 as 'fake news', reiterating that September 15 remains the final date.

'A fake news is in circulation stating that the due of filing ITRs (originally due on 31.07.2025, and extended to 15.09.2025) has been further extended to 30.09.2025,' the Department said on Sunday.

'The due date for filing ITRs remains 15.09.2025. Taxpayers are advised to rely only on official @IncomeTaxIndia updates,' the Department further stated.

Earlier in May, the government had already extended the deadline for non-audit cases from July 31 to September 15 for AY 2025-26.

With the surge in ITR filings, the Department said the rising numbers reflect stronger tax compliance and the expanding base of taxpayers in the country.

/IANS