New Delhi, Sept. 29 -- The income tax department has extended the deadline for taxpayers required to get their accounts audited to October 21, giving businesses and professionals additional time to complete their tax audit compliance. The deadline extension comes after tax professionals faced a compressed compliance window, along with glitches and changes in tax-filing utilities, portal-related issues and difficulties with UDIN generation.

The extension gives taxpayers more time to review their tax audit reports and income-tax returns before filing. However, experts say taxpayers whose books are finalised and whose tax audit report and ITR are ready should generally not wait until the new deadline. The additional time is better used as a...