Individuals with income exceeding more than the basic exemption limit are required to file Income Tax return within the due date and if the person fails or misses the due date then there are the certain provisions of penalty under the Income Tax Act, 1961. The assessing officer may contact the individual through a notice to furnish reasons for not filing the return within due date.

Not filing the return within due date may lead to levy of penalty upto INR 10,000.

Due Date For Income Tax Return Filing u/s 139(1)

• (a) Where the Assessee is :
  • 1) A Company
  • 2) A Person (Other Than a Company) whose accounts are required to be audited under this Act or under any other law for the time being in force, or
  • 3) A working partner of a firm whose account is required to be audited under this act or under any law for the time being in force
  • Note: The due date is the 30th day of September of the assessment year
• (b) In case of Assessee who is required to furnish a report referred to in section 92E, the 30th day of November of the assessment year
• (c) In the case of any other assessee the 31st day of July of the assessment year

If the assessee has not submitted his ITR within prescribed time u/s 139 (1) then return will be considered as a belated return. Belated return can be filed u/s 139 (4).

Assessee can file their income tax return (before receiving any notice from the department) the end of the relevant assessment year. For Example- Return for the AY 2018-19 can be filed upto 31.03.2019.

If the assessee has missed the deadline following consequences will be there which are as follows:

• In the case where there are some taxes are yet to be paid, and return is belated then it will attract interest u/s 234 (A) @ 1% per month and part thereof up to the date of filing of the return, on such unpaid tax amount. This interest will be charged only if there is any tax payable by you.
• The assessee will not be allowed to carry forward losses in case of belated return.
• Assessee may lose interest on refund u/s 244A as delay in filing is attributable to you for the period by which you have filed a late return.
• Penalty u/s 234F is levied from AY 2018-19 for filing returns after the expiry of relevant assessment year. The penalty amount is 5000/-. It will be increased to 10000/- if the return is filed after 31 st day of December of the assessment year. However where the gross total income of the assessee is more than 250000/- but upto 500000/- the maximum amount of penalty can be 1000/-.

8 Mistakes To Avoid Before Filing ITR Forms:

• Do not claim fake deductions in ITR in order to reduce income tax liability.
• If the income is more than the basic exemption limit, filing of return is mandatory.
• Mention your accumulated income earned from all the employers, if you have changed the job.
• When you select the wrong ITR form, you may get income tax department notice mentioning under-reporting income as in different form you will miss some information to file.
• A taxpayer is also required to make sure that data feed into ITR is in accordance with the Form 26AS. In any discrepancy, the department can ask for an explanation.
• It is required to either e-verify the ITR form or sent it to CPC, Bengaluru for verification. if the assessee fails to e verify his return then the return will be considered as an invalid form.
• It is required to mention every single detail regarding the income in the ITR.
• When you are filing ITR form late, pay the late filing fees as well in order to keep away the notice from the income tax department.

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