The Strengths of Completing ITR within the pre-defined Time Frame
Submitting your ITR on time makes you feel responsible and comfortable for yourself, but the advantages don’t stop there. Filing your ITR on time will help you in a variety of ways, including:
Simple Loan Approval Registering
The Income Tax return will essentially support clients when requesting a car loan (2-wheeler or 4-wheeler), a home mortgage and so on.
Request a Tax Refund
If you are subject to reimbursement from the Income Tax Department, you can download your Income Tax Return as soon as feasible to get your reimbursement as quickly as practicable.
Income and Address Confirmation
An income tax return could be regarded as concrete evidence of your income and address used when applying for a loan or visa.
Prompt Visa Approval
At the hour of passport application, most embassies worldwide ask you to outfit copies of your financial records for the past couple of years.
Retain the Losses Forward
On the off chance that you release an income tax return on time, you will be permitted to carry forward losses to the coming years. This cause could very well apply this to eliminate taxes in the next few years.
Avoiding Punishment and Litigation
If you do not document your ITR, the income tax officer will recommend proceedings for prosecution for a period of 3 months to 2 years, and therefore a levy.
In case you end up owing more than Rs. Twenty-five lakhs in taxes, authorities can stretch the term to 7 years. The IT department will not launch the proceedings mentioned above if the net money liability is only about Rs. 3000.
The Cutoff Time for Filing The Individual Tax Returns
The government of India gives citizens several exemptions to document their ITR, but we’re all individual human beings, and we sometimes are not able to file on time. The timeline for filing ITR for the financial year 2020-2021 was January 10, 2021.
Individuals predominantly have until July 31 to complete their tax statements for any particular year.
Regrettably, considering the recent influx of COVID-19 and its implications on every major enterprise, the GoI agreed to extend the due date for filing tax returns for 2020-2021 to November 30, which itself was eventually replaced to December 31.
Negative Repercussions of Late Registration of ITR
The following are recorded underneath:
Interest according to Section 234A of the Income Tax Act of 1961:
Section 234A enforces an interest payment for missing to file income tax returns where any tax is owed.
Failure to file an ITR can draw in the interest of 1% monthly and partly before the return is filed on the neglected outstanding tax sum.
Then, if you have a remaining tax payable of Rs. 8,000 and failed to file your ITR by the given deadline of July 31, and you file your financial records on October 15, you will then have to pay an interest penalty of 1% per month x 3 months on the remaining tax aggregate amount of Rs 8,000, i.e., Rs 240.
Losses cannot be carried forward
Losses will not be permitted to be carried forward if the income tax return is filed well beyond the closing date. Nevertheless, even though the refund of gain/loss is filed after the due date, the loss under the heading “Income from house property” will indeed be brought forward.
Demand for Tax Reimbursement
Interest on refund under section 244A can be overlooked if the gap in Filing is liable to you for the time in which you lodged a late return. Section 244 A provides that an applicant is subject to interest on the sum of income tax refund received on their income tax return.
Where an applicant has filed their income tax return, and the estimated taxes payable outweigh the assessee’s financial obligations, and the assessee claims the surplus taxes paid as a refund and the same is found to be expected to him, the income tax scheme enables for the interest payment on the total of income-tax refund to the
Fine under Section 234F
If a person declines to file a tax return by the given deadline, the assessing officer can enforce the accompanying charge:
| The deadline of Filing | Payments That Can Be Levied |
| If the return is submitted past the closing date but on or before December 31 | Rs 5000 |
| Any other event | Rs 10000 |
Make note that, If the individual’s taxable profit doesn’t relatively equal to or exceed five lakh rupees, the fee incurred under this clause is confined to one thousand rupees only.
Lawsuit for Failing to Supply Return of Income:
If the return of income is not reported by the given deadline, you can consider obtaining a letter of prosecution under Section 276CC.
What Technically is a Belated Return?
A belated return is a return that is not filed on or before the due date as mentioned in the Income Tax Act.
Section 139 of the corresponding act specifies that any citizen who has not yet completed their income tax returns are entitled to several types of returns from the IT department, prompting them to do it anyway. The late return is lodged following Clause 139(4) of the Act.
Thus, according to Section 139(4) of the Income Tax Act:
- If an applicant or an individual is incompetent to file income tax returns before the specified deadline enumerated in Article 139(1), then
- The applicant or agency might very well further register late or belated income tax returns within that year since the end of the relevant taxation year or before the termination or conclusion of the assessment as per Section 144, whichever happens, earlier.
- Taxpayers or individuals who file income tax returns late may suffer Rs 5,000 fines under Section 271F of the Act.
But even so, the IT department would implement no tax on income returns that were not expected to be automatically paid as per the conditions outlined in Section 139(1), even though the returns were reported after the year’s end.
In addition, an individual can focus on providing a belated return if he delays filing a return within the period specified in a notice under the provisions of Section 142. (1).
The taxpayer should file belated ITRs before the end of the relevant analysis year or after the end of the assessment year.
It is vital to recognize that filing a belated return is the same as filing an income tax return before the actual due date.
Will a Corporation Be Obligated To File Income Tax Returns Even If It Was Not In A Commercial Enterprise During The Financial Year?
A corporation or organization that did not perform any sales or activities during the relevant fiscal year has the luxury of considering to choose whether or not to register its income tax returns.
What is the procedure for filing an ITR?
Any taxpayer can file an Income Tax Return in two distinct ways:
- Offline
- Online
Offline Protocol With Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions
To document an income tax return in the offline format, the user will have to do the following steps:
Step 1: At first, the concerned applicant must visit the official Income Tax e-Filing portal, i.e., https://www.incometaxindiaefiling.gov.in/
Step 2: Next, they must select the “IT Return Preparation Software” option from the tab “Download”. Then, they will have to mention the appropriate “Assessment Year” and download the proper ITR form either in JAVA or Excel format as desired.
Step 3: Then, the applicant will have the Fill the ITR form with valid credentials.
(To save time, the client can likewise download the Pre-filled XML for pre-filling the individual and different subtleties. To download client is needed to Login into the e-Filing entry and snap on “Download Pre-Filled XML” under the menu “My Account”)
Step 4: The applicant will have to Confirm all the sheets of the ITR form and consequently Calculate the gross Tax payable.
Step 5: They must then Generate and Save the XML for future records.
Step 6: After Login in to the e-Filing portal successfully, they must choose the Income Tax Return option from under the e-File menu tab.
Step 7: PAN will be auto-populated, and hence, they will have to Select Assessment Year, ITR Form Number and mention the Filing Type as “Original/Revised Return” and Submission Mode as “Upload XML.”
Step 8: Then, they will be required to choose any one of the following options to check the Income Tax Return:
- Digital Signature Certificate (DSC)
- AADHAAR OTP sent to the linked phone number
- Then generate EVC through the “Generate EVC” option available in “My Account.”
- I would like to e-verify later. Please remind me. Then click on the “Continue” tab.
- I would not want to e-verify this Income Tax Return and would also like to mail a signed ITR-V to “Centralized Processing Center, Income Tax Department, Bengaluru-560 500.”
Step 9: Subsequently, they will have to Add the ITR XML File and click on the “Submit” option available in a box at the end of the screen
Step 10
- In case the “DSC” option is clicked by the applicant in “Step 8”, then they will have to Attach the Digital Signature
- On the off chance that “AADHAAR OTP” is chosen in “Step 8”, then they must Enter the AADHAAR OTP received in the mobile number registered with UIDAI
- If “EVC” is selected from in “Step 8”, they will be required to Enter the EVC received in the registered mobile number.
- If the “E-verify later” option is chosen in “Step 8”, then the portal will submit ITR only, but the process of ITR filing is not complete until it is verified.
- If the “I don’t want to e-verify” option is chosen in “Step 8”, then, you can either e-verify the same by clicking on the “e-verify return” option under the menu “My Account” or send the signed ITR-V to CPC, Bengaluru.
Step 11: Finally, the applicant can Submit the ITR.
Online Protocol with detailed Step-by-Step Instructions
This mode is only likely to apply to ITR-1 and ITR-4. To file an ITR online, the applicant must take the measures outlined herein. As a result, people with Salary income and/or income from other sources or house assets will only file returns in this format.
Step 1: To start, the claimant must go to the official Income Tax e-Filing website, which is located at https://www.incometaxindiaefiling.gov.in/.
Step 2: After Login into e-Filing, they must pick the Income Tax Return under the E-file Menu tab.
Step 3: PAN will be auto-populated on the website against the pre-entered credentials. Therefore, the applicant must Select Assessment Year, Select ITR Form Number, Mention the Filing Type as “Original/Revised Return” and Submission Mode as “Prepare and Submit Online.”
Step 4: Then, they will have to Fill the relevant and mandatory fields of the ITR form with appropriate particulars.
(It is advised that you always click “Save Draft” to prevent data loss.)
Step 5: In the next step, the applicant will have to click on the appropriate verification option in the tab “Taxes Paid and Verification.”
- I would like to e-Verify (To use this alternative, you must have a legitimate Aadhar/PrevalidatedDemat Account/Digital Signature certificate recorded in e-Filing against your PAN.)
- I would like to e-Verify later within 120 days from the date of Filing.
- I don’t want to e-Verify and would like to send signed ITR-V through normal or speed post to “Centralized Processing Center, Income Tax Department, Bengaluru-560 500” within 120 days from the date of Filing.
Step 6: Until uploading the document, ensure that the applicant double-checks all of the data by clicking the “Preview and Apply” button to review all ITR data.
Step 7: Then, they must Submit the ITR by clicking on the button available at the bottom of the screen.
Step 8: Steps to be followed for e-Verification of ITR:
- On the off chance that the “I’d like to e-verify” alternative is clicked in “Step 5,” then the applicant must enter the AADHAAR OTP received in the mobile number identified with UIDAI, followed by the EVC received in the enlisted mobile number.
- If the “E-verify later” alternative is selected in “Phase 5”, the portal will submit the ITR. Still, the portal will not complete the procedure of ITR filing until it is validated.
- In the event that the “I don’t want to e-verify” option is selected in “Step 5”, you could always e-verify the same by deciding on the “e-verify return” option under the “My Account” menu or else submit the signed ITR-V to CPC, Bengaluru.
Step 9: The claimant must enter the EVC/OTP within 60 seconds, or else the ITR will be auto-submitted and must be e-verified later by clicking on the “e-verify return” option under the “My Account” menu.