The Income Tax Department has issued an advisory mandating the filing of income tax returns ( ITR ) by 31st July. This hints at no further extension of the last date to the taxpayers.
The advisory said that āFile your income tax return on or before 31st July. Avoid Last-minute rush.ā
As per reports, over 1.46 crore income tax returns have been filed so far, of which 90.8 lakh have been filed by individuals with total income up to Rs 50 lakh. As per data released by the department, a total of over 7.94 lakh tax returns were alone filed on July 16, of which over 5.26 lakh was ITR-1 or Sahaj.
Since there are penal consequences in delay in filing tax returns, the income tax department is under pressure to grant some more time to the taxpayers.
Recently, the format of tax returns as well as in theĀ tax deducted at sourceĀ (TDS) certificates issued by employers and the TDS returns to be filed by employers had been changed recently. The tax department usually allows an extension for a few days if the public faces any difficulty in meeting the deadline and a longer extension for assessees in states in case there are exceptional events like a natural calamity.
Taxpayers, as well as employers, have to pay special attention this year on account of the changes in the forms. According to a report, a survey of over 10,000 citizens conducted by community social media platform Local Circles released on Friday showed that the deadline of 31 July for filing income tax returns is causing some discomfort.
It showed that 39% of over 7,800 people who chose to answer a question onĀ Form 16Ā said they have not yet received it from their employer. The survey was conducted across 146 locations in the country.
