As we all are aware that the rules are getting tough day by day and taxpayers must be active and punctual now to avoid any unnecessary penalties.
As introduced by Finance Act, 2018, if a person who is required to furnish a return of his income u/s 139, fails to furnish such return before the end of the relevant assessment year, the assessing officer may levy a penalty as follows under Section 271F:
| Date of Filing | Penalty |
| If the return is furnished after the due date of filing but on or before the 31st day of December | Rs. 5,000 |
| In any other case i.e if file after 31st December | Rs. 10,000 |
| Note: If the total income of the person does not exceed Rs. 5,00,000/-, the penalty payable under this section shall not exceed Rs. 1,000/-. | |
Since the 31st December, 2019 is coming closer, taxpayer should keep in mind that they should file their belated return for AY 2019-20, if any till 31st December, 2019 to avoid additional penalty of Rs 5,000 which will be levied from 1st January, 2020 onwards.
Further, apart from penalty on late filing of income tax return, if you make a mistake while filing of return for AY 2019-2020, then you would have time till 31 March, 2020 to file your revised return.
Thus, taxpayer is advice to file their income tax return before 31 December, 2019 in order to avoid any unnecessary penalties.
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Congrats on you first post. Good article. Keep it up. 🙂