ITR filing last day: Any chance of deadline extension? A belated ITR can be filed after this deadline but with a late filing penalty. With the Twitterati demanding extension of ITR filing, will the government extend it at the last minute?
The income tax return (ITR) filing last due date of July 31 for FY 2021-22 has not been extended till now. While the possibility of the government extending the ITR filing due date beyond Jul 31, 2022 will exist till the deadline is actually over, the chances of this happening appear slimIt is to be noted that the due date for filing ITR for FY2021-22 (July 31, 2022) is for individuals who are not required to get their accounts audited. Further, this is the last date to file ITR without paying late fees/penalty. The ITR can be filed after this date as a belated ITR till December 31, 2022, albeit with a late filing fee of up to Rs.5,000.
While Twitterati have been hoping for an extension, the reasons why the chance of this appears bleak are:
1. As per the official figures shared by the income tax department today morning on their official Twitter handle, more than 5.10 crore ITRs have been filed till July 30, 2022.
As per the tweet, “More than 5.10 crore ITRs have been filed till 30th July 2022. Over 57.51 lakh #ITRs were filed on 30th July 2022 itself. Do remember to file yours, if not filed as yet. #FileNow to avoid late fee. Today is the due dt to file #ITR for AY 2022-23. Pl visit: http://incometax.gov.in.”
More than 5.10 crore ITRs have been filed till 30th July,2022. Over 57.51 lakh #ITRs were filed on 30th July,2022 i… https://t.co/BmcPsWK8op
— Income Tax India (@IncomeTaxIndia) 1659242363000
Some statistics of Income Tax Returns filed today.19,53,581 #ITRs have been filed upto 1300 hours today & 4,67,90… https://t.co/Z9ABrtExPe
— Income Tax India (@IncomeTaxIndia) 16592560480002. Yesterday, i.e. on July 30, 2022, over 57 lakh ITRs were filed as per the IT department’s tweet. Presuming that a similar number (if not more) are filed today, the total number of ITRs filed till midnight today would cross 5.7 crore approximately. This is because the number of ITRs filed till yesterday had already crossed 5.1 crore. The number of ITRs filed last year till the ITR filing due date (Dec 31, 2021) was 5.9 crore approx (as per January 1, 2022 press release of income tax department), therefore the shortfall would be only about 20 lakh approximately.
As those who miss the due date have the option of filing a belated ITR with a late fee, the government may decide to stick to the deadline. It is to be noted that late fee also adds to government revenues. However, the possibility of the government deciding to be lenient and extending the deadline at the last minute cannot be totally negated.
3. Some experts have been quoted in other media as saying that the only reason for any deadline extension would be if the government’s ITR filing e-portal were to face major technical issues/slows down substantially towards the close of the deadline. However, while many ITR filers may be facing issues while filing ITR on the e-portal, there have not been many reports of the kind of huge technical problems that the portal faced when it was newly launched.
4. The revenue secretary Tarun Bajaj has been widely quoted in media as saying that there are no plans to extend the ITR filing deadline this year.
ET Wealth earlier spoke to the tax experts and chartered accounts as to whether the ITR filing deadline would be extended after the income tax department tweeted about glitches in the portal. Here’s what they said:
Aakanksha Goel, Direct Tax Partner, T R Chadha & Co LLP: The income tax department has recently tweeted regarding irregular traffic on the portal slowing down the website. This has raised hope for many tax filers if this shows the intent to extend of due date for filing ITR by the tax department. Though this is a bit unfortunate that even after more than a year of the launch of a new website, it is not able to handle the traffic on the portal, however, considering it positively, this might have been caused due to more assessees trying to file the ITRs early and not waiting till the last date. The extension may not be warranted this year considering that the ITR Forms and Utilities were issued well in advance. However, in case the portal slows down and taxpayers are not able to do the necessary filings, CBDT may have to consider extending the due date for enabling compliances.
Read rest of the story here: Will the ITR filing deadline be extended? What tax experts said
Therefore, it would be wise to try to file your income tax return before the deadline and not wait for an extension as the effort involved in filing a belated ITR is similar. Here’s help on how to file your ITR.
Here is the complete ITR filing guide
( Originally published on Jul 31, 2022 )
This story originally appeared on: India Times - Author:Tax Cognition
