New Delhi: The corporate affairs ministry has extended the deadline for companies to file their annual financial statements for the fiscal 2025-26 till December 31.
Besides, companies can submit their annual returns to the ministry till January 31, 2027, as per a circular.
The extension of deadlines follow representations from stakeholders as they were facing issues in submitting the annual statutory filings through the MCA 21 portal.
According to the circular dated October 24, the ministry said that in view of the representations received and to enable companies to complete their annual statutory filings, the deadlines have been extended without paying an additional fee.
Now, the annual financial statements in e-forms AOC-4, AOC-4 (CFS), AOC-4 (XBRL), AOC-4 NBFC (Ind AS) and AOC-4 CFS NBFC (Ind AS) for the financial year 2025-26 can be filed up to December 31, 2026.
For the 2025-26 fiscal year, annual returns in e-forms MGT-7 and MGT-7A can be submitted till January 31, 2027.
Generally, the annual financial statements have to be submitted within 30 days of completing the Annual General Meetings (AGMs) and in the case of annual returns, the time period is 60 days.
Prior to issuance of the circular, the deadlines for submitting annual financial statements and annual financial returns for 2025-26 fiscal was October 31 and November 30, 2026, respectively.
The ministry also said the circular "shall not be construed as conferring any extension of statutory time for holding of AGMs (Annual General Meetings) by the companies under the Act and the companies which have not adhered to the relevant statutory timelines shall be liable under the relevant provisions of the Act".
Under the Companies Act, entities must submit statutory filings through the MCA 21 portal. Recently, stakeholders have faced issues using the portal.
The Institute of Company Secretaries of India (ICSI) said on Sunday that the extended timelines provide critical breathing room to navigate the technical transition to the MCA 21 V3 portal.
The timely relief reflects the ministry's stakeholder-centric approach and commitment to ease of doing business, it said in a statement.
The ministry implements the Companies Act.