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ITR Filing: Filing income tax returns is necessary if your income is more than the basic exemption limit. Apart from this, there are some situations where filing of returns is necessary even if the income is less than the basic exemption limit. The last date for filing income tax returns for the financial year 2023-24 is July 31. The question is what happens if the income return is not filed by the last date?
Permission to file late return
According to the Income Tax rules, if a taxpayer does not file the return by the last date for any reason, he is allowed to file the return by 31 December of that year. This is called belated return filing. Taxpayers have to pay a penalty for filing belated income tax returns. The amount of penalty depends on the annual income of the taxpayer.
How much fine will have to be paid
If the annual income of the taxpayer is Rs. 5 lakh or less, he will have to file a return in a time bound manner. A penalty of Rs. 1,000 will have to be paid. If the annual income of the taxpayer is Rs. 5 lakh, then a penalty of Rs. 5,000 will have to be paid. Apart from this, the taxpayer also has to pay interest on his tax liability. Thus, there is a provision of two types of penalties for not filing the return by July 31.
Interest will have to be paid on tax
According to section 234A of the Income Tax Act, the taxpayer has to pay interest at the rate of 1 percent per month on his tax amount. The interest is calculated till the date of filing the return by the taxpayer. The interest is calculated from August 1. Experts say that the Income Tax Department imposes this penalty so that taxpayers file their returns within the time limit.
Benefits of filing returns within the stipulated time limit
There are many benefits of filing returns within the deadline. Taxpayers do not get a refund if they do not file returns by July 31. Meanwhile, if they need a home loan or any other loan, they may face problems. Banks or NBFCs require income tax returns from the applicant when applying for a loan.
