New Delhi: The government has extended the time for filing income tax. Now, Income Tax Return (ITR) can be filed by January 10. Till date the last date of the ITR file was 31 December. This will be for ITR towards Financial Year 2019-20. The Finance Ministry announced the concession on Wednesday evening.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweetang="en" dir="ltr">In view of the continued challenges faced by taxpayers in meeting statutory compliances due to outbreak of COVID-19, the Govt further extends the dates for various compliances. Press release on extension of time limits issued today: <a href="https://t.co/lMew09HXMq">pic.twitter.com/lMew09HXMq</a></p>— Income Tax India (@IncomeTaxIndia) <a href="https://twitter.com/IncomeTaxIndia/status/1344260412355665920?ref_src=twsrc^tfw">December 30, 2020</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" data-charset="utf-8"></script>
A total of 4.37 crore ITRs were filled up to 28 December. According to the notification, those filing personal income tax, whose accounts do not need to be audited, can file the return till January 10. Such tax payers use the ITR 1 or ITR 4 form. Earlier, the date of ITR was extended from 31 July to 30 November. It was then extended to 31 December.
According to a press statement issued by the Finance Ministry, ITR has been extended till February 15 for those who pay taxes and have their accounts audited and for those who need to report international financial transactions. With this, the government has extended the last date of tax audit report to 15 January 2021.
The date of declaration of income under the No Dispute but Trust scheme has also been extended to 31 January 2021. This year, the date of filing income tax has been repeatedly increased due to Corona. Failure to file ITR on time may lead to a fine of Rs 10,000 and a jail term.
Several Chartered Accountant (CA) and Practitioner Societies had appealed to the government to extend the date of filing ITR so that more people will be able to pay tax.
It is necessary to file ITR for those who deposit one crore or more in a current account in the bank in a year. If you spend more than 2 lakh rupees annually on a foreign tour, you will still have to pay ITR. Even if you pay an electricity bill of more than one lakh rupees annually, you will still have to pay ITR.