The due date of filing income tax return is mentioned u/s 139(1). Many people came up with a query that what will happen if we do not file the Income Tax Return by the aforementioned deadline. There are many benefits of filing the Income Tax Return within due date. But, here we are discussing only the adverse consequences of late-filing of the Income Tax Return which includes Penalty under Section 271F of Income Tax Act, 1961, Interest under Section 234A of Income Tax Act, 1961, Non-Carry Forward of Losses, Best judgment assessment (Assessment under section 144), Claim of Refund of Taxes.
You can always file your income tax return (before receiving any notice from the department) till last date of Assessment year of which return is required to be filed by you. Filing your income tax return after the due date invites some consequences which are as follows:
- In case there are some taxes yet to be paid, filing of income tax return after the due date will attract interest @ 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.
- You will not be allowed to carry forward certain losses if you are filing your income tax return after the deadline.
- You may lose interest on refund u/s 244A as delay in filing is attributable to you for the period by which you have filed late return.
- If a person fails to furnish return before due date, the assessing officer may levy a penalty u/s 271F as follows:
| Date of Filing | Fees Leviable |
| If the return is furnished after the due date of filing but on or before the 31st day of December. | Five thousand rupees |
| In any other case | Ten thousand rupees |
| Note: If the total income of the person does not exceed five lakh rupees, the fee payable under this section shall not exceed one thousand rupees. | |
- The Assessing Officer is under an obligation to make an assessment to the best of his judgment in the following cases: –
- If the taxpayer fails to file the return required within the due date prescribed under section 139(1) or a belated return under section 139(4) or a revised return under section 139(5).
- If the taxpayer fails to comply with all the terms of a notice issued under section 142(1) or fails to comply with the direction issued under section 142(2A)
- If the taxpayer fails to comply with all the terms of a notice issued under section 143(2)
Thus, Non-Filing of the Income Tax Return may result in the Best Judgement Assessment. This is an assessment carried out as per the best judgment of the Assessing Officer on the basis of all relevant material he has gathered.
Therefore, just keep in mind the above consequences of late filing of your Income Tax Return.
(Author ‘CA Ashish Aggarwal’ is associated with portal www.fileitronline.com which provides online financial services in the nature of online income tax returns filing)
Republished with Amendments
ok this , but we need time and cbdt clarification
All these are old comments. No clarity as to how to proceed with the Tax Return of a deceased person who died in August 2019 with no details of previous Returns or investments and one had to beg the Department for details and still nothing fruitful has come out as it appears that various possibilities of name mismatch prevents even from knowing the name. She was so secretive that we know nothing of her source of income. She was doing giving finance at exorbitant rate and was all cash transaction. One even wonders whether she had a Bank A/c and PAN.
Evening Sir, i’m from a jurisdiction which allows late filing of the returns with the prerequisite that you inform the Commissioner of tax and that was done too. Now there are administrative penalities of course attached to that. Now having followed that can the Revenue Authority just then choose to prefer criminal proceedings on that issue yet the internal remedies were not firstly exhuasted ? Is ti really a fair practice at all?
YOU CAN FILE RETURN NOW ALSO. IF YOU HAVE NO TAX PAYABLE THEN IT IS OKAY . IF U HAVE PAY TAX ,PL PAY WITH INTEREST ,.HOWEVER YOU MAY ALSO BE LEVIED PENALY=TY FOR NOT FILING RETURN IN TIME OF Rs5000
Hello Sir,
I have received a compiiance notice letter from In come tax office stating that 2013-2014 return has not been filed. Sir is there a way to avoid penality and file the return now?
Thanks,
Vinod Rana
Hello Ashish I need a help regarding my ITR problem. Please help me.
Priyakant
9716110410
Hi, I have missed submittion of my tax return for the assessment year 2013-2014,
TDS was deducted and mine is nil tax.
what shall I do now ?
will there will be any penalty for non filing of return , though my tax payable is nil ?
Sir,
I am a Govt. employee. My gross salary for the F.Y. comes 5,18000/- without any deduction. GPF recovery 100000,Prof.Tax 5000/-Housing loan Loan Nil,full tax deducted from source. No refund. whether I should file the return or not.
Dear Venkata,
Currently, Income tax department allows ITR filing for AY 2014- 15 and AY 2013-14 only.
ITR’s relating to all the AY’s preceeding to the AY 2013-14 cannot be filed now.
Hope you will find this answer and post useful.
Best Regards,
CA Ashish Aggarwal
+91 9873 935 538
Dear Sir,
Good Morning ,As per the suggestion given by you, can we filed IT A Y 2012-2013 NOW. As two years time has completed.
Your advice is required.
A.S.VENKATA RAMANAN MOBILE 92821 54411