The Income Tax Department on Sunday asked income tax return filers to refrain from making bogus claims for expenses, under-reporting their earnings or exaggerating deductions calling it a punishable offence that causes a delay in issuance of refunds.
As per the IT Department and its administrative body Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT), more than five crore ITRs have been filed, as of July 26. Over 28 lakh ITRs were filed on July 26 itself. In a recent directive, the department asked the taxpayers to file their ITRs correctly to get timely refunds. "Refund claims are subject to verification checks, which may cause delays. Accurate filing of ITR leads to quicker processing of refunds. Any discrepancies in the claims made will prompt a request for a revised return (to be filed by the taxpayer)," it said.
Moreover, it also warned against making incorrect Tax Deducted at Source (TDS) amounts claims. "Filing a false or bogus claim is a punishable offence," the public communication read. notably the last date to file the ITR is July 31. After this, the ITR could still be filed till December 31, but with a penalty. For individuals with net taxable income of more than Rs 5 lakh for the financial year 2023-24 (assessment year 2024-25), filing a belated return may attract a penalty of up to Rs 5,000. However, for an annual income of Rs 5 lakh and less, the maximum penalty for filing a belated ITR is limited to Rs 1,000.
More ITRs being filed in new tax regime
According to CBDT Chairman Ravi Agrawal, more than 66 per cent of ITR filings this time were under the new regime which the government is promoting to make the direct tax system better and simpler. In the old tax regime, the taxpayers could claim a variety of deductions to lower their tax liabilities while in the new tax regime, the tax rate is lower but the taxpayer cannot avail of these benefits.
(With PTI Inputs)
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