Alert: IT return filing deadline ends on December 31. Know the penalty

The last date for the Income Tax Returns (ITR) filing for the last financial year is ending this 31st. The last date for filing the return which is usually July 31 was initially extended to September 30 and then to December 31 owing to software glitches in the new income tax portal. Read: IT filing due date extended to December 31 The taxpayers across the country are expecting the Central government to extend the ITR filing deadline. However, sources from the Income Tax Department says that the government is unlikely to extend the dates further. 

Individual taxpayers who miss the December 31, 2021 income tax return (ITR) filing deadline must pay a late fee and file a belated ITR. The deadline for filing the belated ITR is December 31 starting this year.

Penalty for late filing of income tax return:

If you file your ITR after the deadline, you will be charged a late filing fee. Until last year, the maximum penalty a taxpayer could face for missing the ITR filing deadline was Rs 10,000. A person who files a late ITR will have to pay a penalty of up to Rs 5,000 beginning in FY 2020-21.

Small taxpayers are given some relief: the IT department has stated that if the total income does not exceed Rs 5 lakh, the maximum penalty levied for late payment will be Rs 1000.

However, if the amount of tax evaded exceeds Rs 25 lakh, the penalty could range from 6 months to 7 years, according to the Income Tax Department's website. There was no penalty for filing late income tax returns until assessment year (AY) 2017-18. This penalty, however, is effective beginning with the 2018-19 fiscal year. The government added a new section, 234F, to the Income-tax Act of 1961.