New Delhi: The Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) has extended the deadlines for companies to submit their financial statements and annual returns for the financial year 2025-26. The move provides relief to businesses facing difficulties in completing statutory filings.
Companies can now file their financial statements until December 31, 2026, without paying additional fees, while the deadline for annual returns has been extended to January 31, 2027.
Financial Statements Deadline Extended
According to an MCA circular, companies can submit their financial statements through various versions of Form AOC-4 without additional fees until December 31.
The relaxation covers consolidated financial statements, filings in XBRL format and applicable forms for non-banking financial companies (NBFCs).
Form AOC-4 is used by companies to submit their financial statements to the Registrar of Companies (RoC).
Annual Returns Can Be Filed Until January 31
The government has also extended the deadline for filing annual returns through Forms MGT-7 and MGT-7A to January 31, 2027.
MGT-7 is used for filing annual returns by companies, while MGT-7A applies to one-person companies and small companies.
The extensions follow representations from stakeholders seeking additional time to meet compliance requirements.
Technical Issues On MCA Portal
The decision comes amid complaints from company secretaries and other professionals regarding technical problems on the MCA-21 Version 3 portal.
The online platform is used for statutory filings, corporate registrations and other compliance-related services.
Professionals reported frequent downtime, slow responses, login failures and automatic session logouts during filing.
They also highlighted difficulties with profile updates, user access management, incorrect pre-filled information and inconsistencies in retrieving data.
ICSI Had Sought Deadline Extension
The Institute of Company Secretaries of India (ICSI) had requested the government to extend the filing deadline until December 31, 2026, without additional fees.
The institute cited persistent technical difficulties affecting the filing process.
Notably, the MCA had granted two extensions for FY 2024-25 annual filings through circulars issued on October 17 and December 30, 2025.
The latest relaxation is expected to ease compliance pressure on companies and professionals.
