The extended deadline to file income tax return is on today - August 31. The Income Tax department had extended the due date for filing of Income Tax Returns (ITR) from July 31, 2018 to August 31, 2018. If you have not filed your ITR by now then you must do it today or you stand to face penalty.
According to recent changes in penalty slab by CBDT, non-filing of ITR before the due date from this assessment year would lead to a penalty of Rs 1,000, 5,000 and Rs 10,000. Penalty will depend on when the ITR is filed after the deadline. However, for taxpayers having income under Rs 5 lakh, fine remains at Rs 1,000.
The penalty
Until the last assessment year (AY), i.e., AY 2017-18 there was no penalty for filing belated income tax returns. However, this penalty is applicable from AY 2018-19. A new section 234F was inserted by the government into the Income Tax Act. As per this section, an individual would have to pay a fee of up to Rs 10,000 for filing income tax return after the due dates specified in section 139(1) of the Act.
As per the amendments made in the Finance Act 2017, taxpayers are liable to pay penalty of:
Rs 5,000 - if their tax return for the financial year 2017-18 is filed after the return filing deadline (August 31, 2018) but before December 31, 2018.
Rs 10,000 - if the tax return is filed on or after January 1, 2019
Rs 1,000 - if the total income of the taxpayer is less than Rs 5,00,000, the fee amount shall not exceed Rs 1,000
However, if you have filed your return but you want to revise to report any additional income or deductions, you can do that without nay penalty.
Remember, merely filing your tax return is just half of the process – you need to verify it as well. As per the present tax laws, you can verify your return within 120 days of filing it.
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