Form 3CEB Due Date 31 October 2026: Transfer Pricing Report Not Extended, ITR by 30 November
The Form 3CEB due date for Assessment Year 2026-27 remains 31 October 2026. CBDT Circular No. 07/2026 dated 28 September 2026 pushed the tax audit report to 21 October and the return date for audited assessees to 21 November, but it did not touch the transfer pricing calendar. Any taxpayer that entered into an international transaction or a specified domestic transaction during 2025-26 must have the chartered accountant's report under section 92E filed and accepted on the e-filing portal by Saturday, 31 October, and its return of income is due on 30 November 2026.
The dates in our report on the 21 October tax audit deadline do not carry over to these taxpayers. The e-filing portal's own help page for business taxpayers for AY 2026-27 lists Form 3CEB for a "taxpayer who enters into an international transaction or specified domestic transactions" and says it is to be furnished at least one month before the due date for furnishing the return of income. With the return due on 30 November for section 92E cases, the report falls due on 31 October.
Why Circular 07/2026 does not extend Form 3CEB
Circular No. 07/2026 (F. No. 225/128/2026/ITA-II) extends the return due date only for persons at serial number 2 of the Table below Explanation 2 to section 139(1) of the Income-tax Act, 1961, from 31 October to 21 November 2026, and as a consequence moves the audit report under section 44AB to 21 October 2026. It was issued under section 119 of the 1961 Act read with section 536 of the Income-tax Act, 2025. The circular does not mention section 92E or Form 3CEB, and taxpayers required to furnish a transfer pricing report are not part of serial number 2. Their return date stays at 30 November 2026, and both reports keyed to it stay at 31 October.
That second point catches some groups off guard. A company with international transactions that is also liable to tax audit does not get the 21 October audit date at all. Its Form 3CA-CD or 3CB-CD, like its Form 3CEB, is governed by its own 30 November return date, so both reports are due on 31 October 2026. The portal's help page uses the same "at least one month before the due date" wording for the tax audit report as it does for Form 3CEB.
Which dates apply to which taxpayer for AY 2026-27
The three common situations compare as follows.
| Taxpayer | Report required | Report due date | ITR due date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Company or firm liable to tax audit, no international or specified domestic transaction | Form 3CA-CD / 3CB-CD | 21 October 2026 (extended) | 21 November 2026 |
| Company with international transactions, also liable to tax audit | Form 3CEB and Form 3CA-CD / 3CB-CD | 31 October 2026 | 30 November 2026 |
| Person with specified domestic transactions above ₹20 crore | Form 3CEB | 31 October 2026 | 30 November 2026 |
Specified domestic transactions under section 92BA come into the report only where their aggregate value in the year exceeds ₹20 crore. International transactions have no such floor: a single import of components from a foreign parent, a cross-charge of group management fees or an intra-group loan is enough to require Form 3CEB.
How Form 3CEB is filed and accepted on the e-filing portal
Form 3CEB is a two-login filing, and the deadline is met only when the taxpayer completes its part. According to the e-filing portal's Form 3CEB FAQs, the sequence is:
- The taxpayer adds the chartered accountant under Authorised Partners and assigns Form 3CEB, choosing the CA, the assessment year (2026-27) and the filing type (Original).
- The form appears in the CA's worklist. The CA accepts the assignment; if the CA rejects it, the taxpayer has to assign it again.
- The CA generates a UDIN for Form 3CEB on the ICAI UDIN portal, then fills the form online or uploads the JSON or zipped XML from the offline utility, signed with the CA's digital signature certificate.
- The uploaded form moves to the taxpayer's "For your action" tab. The taxpayer reviews it and approves it; filing is complete only after approval and verification.
Both the taxpayer and the CA need active e-filing accounts and registered, valid DSCs. The FAQs list the errors that most often hold up a filing in the last week: an "INVALID UDIN" where the UDIN was generated for another form or assessment year or does not match the CA's membership number, an "INVALID DSC" where the certificate has expired or is not registered in the user's own login, and a "Form Submission Failed!" message, which requires the taxpayer to reject the upload, reassign the form and have the CA upload a corrected file. Only one original Form 3CEB is allowed for a PAN and assessment year, so the filing type must be chosen with care.
In practice this means a report uploaded by the CA on the evening of 31 October but not approved by the company's authorised signatory until 1 November has been furnished late. Groups whose signatory sits abroad, or whose DSC is held by a director who travels, should plan the approval step for 29 or 30 October.
Master file intimation falls on the same day
Constituent entities of an international group have a second deadline on 31 October 2026. Where more than one Indian constituent entity exists and one is designated to file the master file, Form 3CEAB intimating that designation is due on 31 October. The master file itself in Form 3CEAA is due on 30 November 2026: Part A for every constituent entity of an international group, and Part B only where consolidated group revenue exceeds ₹500 crore and the entity's international transactions exceed ₹50 crore, or its intangible property transactions exceed ₹10 crore.
Penalty for missing the 31 October Form 3CEB deadline
Section 271BA of the 1961 Act provides a penalty of ₹1,00,000 for failure to furnish the section 92E report. Section 273B keeps the penalty away where the taxpayer proves reasonable cause for the failure, and the burden of showing that cause lies on the taxpayer. Form 3CEB also has to be on record before the return is filed, so a late report pushes back the 30 November return as well. A company that is also liable to tax audit and misses 31 October for its Form 3CD faces the separate penalty under section 271B.
No CBDT circular extending the transfer pricing dates had appeared on the e-filing portal's news page as of 26 October. Until one appears on the portal, the working dates for section 92E cases are 31 October 2026 for Form 3CEB, the tax audit report and Form 3CEAB, and 30 November 2026 for the return of income and Form 3CEAA.
Official source: View the official source document
