AUGUST 31 IS THE NEW DEADLINE TO FILE TAX RETURNS

The income tax department on Thursday extended the last date for filing tax returns by one month. The due date to file the tax returns has been extended to August 31 from July 31, the income tax department said. This will be a relief for taxpayers who are yet to file their returns as from this year, as per a budget provision, late filing of returns will attract a penalty of up to ₹10,000. A fine of ₹5,000 will be levied if the return is filed after the due date but before December 31. The fine will be ₹10,000 after December 31.

NEW DELHI: In a relief to individual taxpayers, the income tax department on Thursday extended the last date for filing tax returns by one month.

The due date for filing the income tax returns has been extended to August 31 from July 31, the income tax department said in a statement.

This will be a relief for taxpayers who are yet to file their tax returns as from this year, as per a budget provision, late filing of tax returns will attract a penalty of up to ₹10,000.

A penalty of ₹5,000 will be levied if the return is filed after the due date but before December 31, as per this new provision applicable from this year. The penalty will be ₹10,000 after December 31.

However, if the taxpayer’s income is less than ₹5 lakh, maximum penalty levied is capped at ₹1,000.

“While return filing due date has been extended, taxpayers are still unsure about how the penalty applies to them if they cannot file by August 31,” said Archit Gupta, founder and chief executive officer of ClearTax, a tax and compliance software provider. People are enquiring if penalty applies when they have no tax payable or if the taxable income is less than ₹2.5 lakh and they are filing the tax return only for refund, he added.