• Notification Date: 31-12-2022
• Notification No: N/A

Belated/Revised Income Tax Returns to be filed before 31st Dec: CBDT

The taxpayers and the tax practitioners have been urging the CBDT for an extension to file the Income Tax returns. But the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) vide the twitter handle of the Income Tax Department has reminded the taxpayers to file belated and revised income tax returns before the last date, i.e., 31st December 2022, without any delay. The tweet hints no further due date extension. The tweet clarifies that 31st December 2022 is the last chance to file a belated/revised ITR for AY 2022-2023. “Hurry! File your ITR before the due date. Pl visit http://incometax.gov.in#FileNow,” the income tax department tweeted via its official portal. 

The original deadline for filing the income tax returns for the assessment year 2022-23 was July 31. The last date was not extended this year despite requests from various fields. 

According to the information received from the official website of the income tax department, 7,06,88,702 out of 10,74,16,060 taxpayers filed their income tax returns. The Income Tax Act, 1961 provides a few penal provisions to curb tax evasion and penalize the defaulters in case of non-filing of returns and non/short payment of income tax. A penalty of Rs 5,000 will be charged for the delay in filing returns if the total income to be reported exceeds Rs 5 lakh. For small taxpayers, if the total income of the person is less than Rs 5 lakh, then the fee payable is up to Rs 1,000. 

After the deadline for filing the returns of the relevant assessment year expires on 31st December, one cannot voluntarily file ITRs. After that, if and when the income-tax department picks up the income of the taxpayer and tax details available for scrutiny, the department will direct the defaulter how to comply with the mandatory provisions by paying penalty and interest. Section 234 of the Income Tax Act, 1961 deals with penal interest that are levied in cases of delay in paying income tax on time.