The last date of Income Tax Return filing has been extended by CBDT, giving some respite to millions of taxpayers. The new due date for filing the income tax return (ITR) for AY2018-19 is 31 August 2018 from 31 July 2018. This move has been taken for individuals for whom the due date is decided under clause (c) of Explanation 2 of section 139(1).
The due date to file the ITR under this section is for individuals and Hindu Undivided Family (HUF). For assessees whose books of accounts are required to be audited, the due date to file ITR is 30 September. In case where the transfer pricing report has to be submitted, the due date is 30 November.
It may be noted that keeping in view the woes of taxpayers, the direct tax committee of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) had recently urged the CBDT to extend the ITR filing due date from 31 July to 31 August, at least. Citing genuine hardships and practical difficulties of filing ITR, the institute in a letter had requested the tax department to consider the extension.
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The delay in the release of the ITR utilities and continuous updation of the schemas, delay in the updation of the TDS credit in the Form 26AS of the taxpayers and issues arising from the first time implementation of the GST law were cited to be among the significant causes of delay in filing the return.
ICAI had argued that heavy monsoon in India was in its fury. Several floods have been reported in states like Maharashtra, Gujarat, Uttarakhand and Jammu and Kashmir. “This abnormality has disrupted the normalfunctionality, making ITR filing not to be the first agenda in the minds of people”, it said.
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The Finance Act 2017 has introduced Section 234F to charge a fee of Rs 5,000 to Rs 10,000 for late filing of the return. If a person files the return after the due date and before 31st December, the fee of Rs 5,000 is required to be paid. For assessees filing the return after 31st December, the fee of Rs 10,000 is levied. Keeping this in view, “extension of the due date by one month is a welcome move as it will make the lives of taxpayers a little less stressful,” tax experts say.