Income Tax Return: Extension Unlikely, What Happens If You Miss July 31 Deadline

Bhubaneswar: The due date to file Income Tax Returns (ITR) for the financial year 2021-22 will end on Sunday (July 31) and the government is unlikely to announce any extension in the deadline.

Earlier in the day, the Income Tax department through its Twitter account said, 19,53,581 ITRs have been filed by 1 pm with 4,67,902 ITRs being filed in the last hour. Till July 30, more than 5.10 crore ITRs were filed with 57.51 lakh on Saturday alone.

The taxpayers will still be able to file their ITR by the last date or the final deadline, December 31, but with a fine along with interest on any unpaid taxes for the year 2021-22. Under section 234F of the IT Act, there will be a penalty of Rs 5,000 for taxpayers whose annual income is more than Rs 5 lakh.  The late fee for those whose annual income is up to Rs 5 lakh is Rs 1,000 and none if the gross total income does not exceed the basic exemption limit of Rs 2.5 lakh.

An interest of 1 per cent is applicable on the outstanding amount if taxpayers don’t file ITR till July 31.

So, the taxpayer will have to deposit the outstanding tax along with the interest. If the outstanding tax is paid on or after the 5th of any month, the interest for the full month will also have to be paid.

For any assistance, taxpayers can connect on orm@cpc.incometax.gov.in or Income Tax help desk numbers 1800 103 0025 & 1800 419 0025.

In the last fiscal year 2020-21 (FY21), around 5.89 crore ITRs were filed by the extended due date of December 31, 2021. The due date was extended by months in the last two assessment years, mainly due to the COVID-19 pandemic.