According to the Income Tax Department, 6.77 crore ITRs have been filed till July 31, the last date for the financial year 2022-23. Whereas, a large number of taxpayers have missed this deadline. The Income Tax Department has given such taxpayers an opportunity to file belated ITR.
What happens to belated ITR
Taxpayers who are unable to file ITR by the due date as per income tax rules are given an opportunity to file belated income tax return under section 139(4) of the Income Tax Act 1961. However, for this, the Income Tax Department charges fees or penalties based on the annual income of the taxpayers.
What is the fee to be paid for belated ITR?
As per the Income Tax rules, the process of filing belated ITR is almost the same as that of normal ITR. Under Section 234F of the Income Tax Act 1961, taxpayers who miss the deadline are given an opportunity to file belated ITR by charging penalty. Taxpayers with annual income up to Rs 5 lakh have to pay a fee of Rs 1,000, while taxpayers with annual income above Rs 5 lakh have to pay a penalty of Rs 5,000.
What is the deadline for belated ITR?
The Income Tax Department has appealed to the missed taxpayers to file belated ITR. According to income tax rules, taxpayers are given 6 months time from the last ITR filing date of each financial year. Accordingly, taxpayers can file belated ITR till 31 December 2023 for the financial year 2022-23.
How to file belated return?
The procedure for filing belated income tax return is similar to filing tax return on or before the due date. The main difference would be that while filling the applicable ITR form, you would have to select “Return filed under section 139(4)” in the drop-down menu of the relevant box in the form. Also remember that if you -24) then you need to file ITR applicable for FY 2022-23 only and not for any previous or subsequent financial year.
