Don't miss due date of 31 Dec 2021
Generally, due date for filing of Income Tax Return (ITR) for a financial year is based on source of income of the assessee. But due to changes in Income Tax portal, the due date for all the classes of assessee extended to 31st December 2021 (Except tax audit cases) for this year i.e, assessment year 2021-22. People are under the impression that due date is also the last date beyond which they cannot submit their ITR, but which is not correct. We can even file ITR after the due date but before the the last date. If we are filing after the due date we lose something which is discussed as follows:
1. In case you fail to submit your ITR before the extended due date of 31st December 2021, you can still do so by 31st March 2022. But you lose your right to carry forward any loss for the current year and which cannot be e set of against current year's income. So in case, you have losses under the the head business income or capital gains or loss beyond 2 lakh Rupees under the head income from house property, during the current year and which you are otherwise entitled to carry forward for set off in subsequent years, will not be able to do so if you miss this December 31st 2021.
2. In case the taxes (Advance tax, TDS and TCS) paid by you or on your behalf are more than your tax liability and therefore are entitled to get refund for the the excess taxes paid, you lose your right to get interest on such excess tax paid for the period of delay which is attributed to you.
3. In case the taxes paid by you or on your behalf are lower than your aggregate tax liability, in addition to the interest for such shortfall, you will also have to pay interest for the period of delay in submitting your ITR even if you have already paid the shortfall after 31st March 2021.
In addition to the above consequences, you will have to mandatorily pay a flat late fee of 5,000 rupees at the time of filing your ITR if it is after the due date, in case your taxable income is more than five lakhs. However, the late fee is restricted to 1,000 rupees in case your taxable income is below five lakhs.
What happens if you fail to submit your ITR even by last date:
In case you fail to file your ITR even by last date i.e, 31st March 2022, the Income Tax Department can levy a minimum penalty equal upto 50% of the tax which would have been avoided by not filing ITR, in addition to Income Tax and interest liability till the date you file your ITR in response to the the notices from the the tax department.
Only a few people knew that Government has powers to launch prosecution against you and put you behind bars if you do not file your ITR by due date. The present income tax laws prescribes a minimum sentence of 3 years of imprisonment and a maximum of 7 years. It is not that the department can launch prosecution against you in each and every instance to failure to file ITR. Income Tax Department can launch prosecution only in case the amount of tax sought to be avoided exceeds Rupees 10,000.
Visit incometax.gov.in to file your IT return.
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