Have you missed the extended income tax return (ITR) filing deadline for FY 2017-18 which was 31st August, 2018?
Don’t worry, you can still have time to file your return. But for filing ITR after due date few things which you must be aware. In view of that, give a thorough read to this article.
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If an individual is filing the ITR after due date, then as per the provisions of the income tax Act, he can file a belated return.
Deadline to file the belated ITR is 31st March, 2019 for FY 2017-18.
From the FY 2017-18, Government through budget 2017 has changed the penalty structure for filing belated return as follows.
PARTICULARS | Late Fee U/s. 234F |
Belated ITR filed till 31st Dec, 2018 | 5000 |
Belated ITR filed till 31st March, 2019 | 10,000 |
However, for granting some relaxation to taxpayers having Income upto 5 lakh (small taxpayers) fee levied for filing Belated ITR will be of Rs. 1000.
Individuals whose gross total income does not exceed the basic exemption limit files a belated return, he/she will not be liable to pay penalty. Also, such individuals will be able to claim deductions as available under section 80C to 80U of the Act.
Currently basic exemption limit of resident individuals are:
RESIDENT INDIVIDUALS | BASIC EXEMPTION LIMIT |
Age below 60 years | Upto 2.5 lahs |
Age 60 years and above but below 80 years | Upto 3 lakhs |
Age 80 years and above | Upto 5 lakhs |
Individuals who are mandatorily required to file the ITR have to pay the penalty for delayed filing. Section 139(1) of the Act states that the following persons have to mandatorily file ITR:
(a) a company or a firm/LLP irrespective of quantum of income and
(b) any other person if his total income exceeds basic exemption limit.
Circumstance where Individual’s income is below the exemption limit but still have to mandatorily file ITR:
A resident individual earning income from foreign assets even though his income is below the minimum exemption limit will have to mandatorily file ITR.
For ex- In FY 2017-18 an individual (age 35 years) earned a total income of Rs 1.5 lakh from dividend of shares held in a foreign company. In that case, even though his Income is below the minimum exemption level of Rs 2.5 lakh, he will still have to mandatorily file the ITR.
In such a case, penalty will be levied on filing ITR after due date.
(The article has been written by CS Nikita Gupta, backed by skills in Corporate and Regulatory laws. For detailed analysis on any of the provision or for any query, writer can be contacted through mail ID- [email protected])
Very Informative article…
Please note, belated Return can be revised within one year from the end of the relevant A.Y. w.e.f.01.04.2017.
Thanks
@Siju Varghese thanks for your valuable input.