Last Day to File ITR, What Happens If You Don't File Your Tax Returns Today
News18 Business 31/08/2018
New Delhi: People are under the impression that if they fail to file their income tax return by the due date, they cannot file it later on. This due date is perceived to be sacrosanct and is a now or never thing. This is not so. Let us discuss.
What is the last date for filing of income tax return?
Before we discuss the consequences of failing to file the income tax return by the due date, let us first understand the due dates applicable in your case. For general category, which covers all the salaried persons, the due date for filing of the income tax return is August 31.
In case you fail to file your income tax return by August 31, you can still file the same by March 31, 2019 and not beyond that. If you fail to file your income tax return by the due date and you have any business loss or capital gains loss in the current year, you will not be able to claim the carry forward of such losses, which you want to set off against profits of subsequent years. Moreover in case you are entitled to get an income tax refund, you will lose the interest in respect of the refund claim for the period of delay attributable to you.
Please note that you also will have to pay penal interest on the amount of tax for the period of delay if any tax deducted at source or paid as advance tax falls short of your tax liability. In case you miss the due date of August 31, you will have to pay a late fee for delayed filing of such return. The late fee would depend on when you have actually filed your income tax return and what is your total income.
In case you file your income tax return after August 31 but by December 31 you will have to mandatorily pay a late fee of Rs 5,000 and if you miss this deadline as well, the late fee applicable will be Rs 10,000. There is relief for small taxpayers with income up to Rs 5 lakh, the amount of late fee in such cases shall be restricted to Rs 1,000 only.
What happens if you fail to file your ITR even by March 31?
In case you fail to file your ITR by the last date and the income tax department comes to know about it, the income tax department can levy a penalty of 50 percent on the income for the year/s. Moreover, it can also launch prosecution against you for your failure to file your ITR if the tax sought of be evaded is more than Rs 3,000. The period of imprisonment may vary between two to seven years depending on the amount of tax involved.
To avoid all these issues, do file your income tax returns before the deadline applicable to you.