From Our Bureau
NEW DELHI: Tweets of the Income Tax Department indicate no extension of the last date of July 31 fixed for filing of the income tax returns (ITR) as it is repeatedly urging to file ITR now, if not filed as yet, and avoid the late fee.
Its latest tweet says over 4.09 crore ITRs filed till 28th July, 2022 & more than 30 lakh on 28th July, 2022 itself. Those hoping for extension on Sunday may rue. The returns filed so far are nearly 1.7 crore less than the audited number of ITRs filed in the previous fiscal year.
In Accounting Year 2021-22, total number of ITRs filed were 6.68 crore whereas the total number of audited ITRs filed by September 2021 were around 5.70 crore.
With around 36 lakh returns filed on July 28, there were three more days left for filing ITRs and expectations are that they may cross 5 crore with ease. As in the past, a big leap in the ITR filing is expected in the last two days and that means the ITR numbers may go around 5.35 crore to 4.4 crore and in that scenario chances of the last date extension look bleak.
The only situation that may force the income department to extend the due date is the crash of the income tax potal. However, the income tax website is doing fine till date and very few cases of website crash have been reported.
The government has also instructed Infosys to remain vigilant about the income tax portal and be prepared for the abrupt rise in traffic when the due date is about to expire. The chartered accountants say they have not found many glitches in the portal and as such they do not expect any extension of the last date as they are advising their clients to be prepared for paying late fee if they miss the deadline.
The late fee is not much. It is up to Rs 5,000 but the rules say the defaulters may be prosecuted for 6 months to 7 years of jail term as well. Apart from this, they won’t be able to carry forward or set off losses against the profit or income of the year.
The late fee is Rs 5,000 where the annual taxable income is Rs 5 lakh or more, whereas the late fee would be Rs 1,000 if the taxable income is below Rs 5 lakh. The late fee can be paid any time after July 31 but in any case before the last date of December 31, 2022.
The rules empower the income tax department to levy penalty of 50% to 200% on the taxpayer’s actual income tax outgo if he misses even the last date of December 31, 2022. The hefty penalty and interest liability till the date of filing the ITR are prescribed if the department serves notice to pay the tax.
