ITR Filing: If you are a person who has to pay tax but has not been able to file the return by the due date, then you do not need to panic as it is still possible to pay tax till 31 December 2023. This is called late filing of income tax return.
The deadline (31 July 2023) for filing Income Tax Return (ITR) has passed and the government has not given any extension. At the same time, till July 31, people had to disclose their earnings for the financial year 2022-23. More than 6 crore ITRs were filed this time till 31 July. However, many people have not even been able to file their income tax returns by the due date of 31 July 2023. In such a situation, now a good news has come for those people.
Income tax return
If you are a person who has to pay tax but has not been able to file the return by the due date, then you do not need to panic as it is still possible to pay tax till 31 December 2023. This is called late filing of income tax return. Belated returns can be filed anytime after 31st July but before 31st December. However, for this people also have to pay late fees.
What is the fee to be paid for late return filing?
The penalty for late income tax return depends on which salary slab you fall under. A person whose net income is more than Rs 5 lakh can file tax by paying Rs 5000 as late fee. On the other hand, people whose salary is less than Rs 5 lakh will have to pay a late fee of Rs 1000.
Last Date
According to the amendment in the Finance Act 2021, from the assessment year 2021-22, taxpayers can submit belated returns three months before the end of the relevant assessment year or before the completion of assessment, whichever is earlier. For assessment year 2023-24, if the Income Tax Officer does not complete the assessment himself, the last date for filing belated returns is on or before 31 December 2023.
Interest
Another disadvantage of late filing is that when ITR is filed before the due date, taxpayers get interest at the rate of 0.5% per month on the refund amount from April 1 till the date of refund. However, in case of belated returns, this interest will be calculated from the date of filing of ITR till the date of refund.
