The due date for filing your income tax return if you are an individual taxpayer is 31st July 2018. However in case you are engaged in any business or profession and your accounts are subjected to tax audit, the due date gets extended till September 30. Even for a working partner in a partnership firm, the due date would be September 30 if the accounts of the partnership firm are subject to tax audit. The business persons for whom the provisions of transfer pricing are applicable the due date is November 30.
In case you failed to file your ITR with in stipulated time, a late filing fee will be applicable. The maximum penalty which can be charged is Rs. 10,000. If you file your ITR after the due date of 31st July 2018 but before 31st December 2018, a penalty of Rs 5,000 will be levied.
| Late Filing Fee Details | ||
| E- Filing Date | Total income Below Rs 5,00,000 | Total income Above Rs 5,00,000 |
| Upto 31st July 2018 | Rs 0 | Rs 0 |
| Between 1st Aug 18 to 31 st Dec 18 | Rs 1,000 | Rs 5,000 |
| Between 1st Jan 19 to 31st March 19 | Rs 1,000 | Rs 10,000 |
Apart from the penalty levied by the Income Tax Department, there are other consequences that a taxpayer may face for late filing of returns:
a. Losses incurred (other than house property loss) are not allowed to be carried forward to subsequent years to be set off against future gains if the return has not been filed within the due date. However, if there are losses under house property, carry forward of losses is permitted.
b. Apart from the penalty for late filing, an interest under section 234A at 1% per month or part thereof will be charged till the date of payment of taxes. The calculation of the penalty will start from the date falling immediately after the due date i.e. 31st July 2018.
c. In case you’re entitled to receiving a refund from the government for excess taxes paid, you must file your return before the due date to receive the refund at the earliest, otherwise return will be delayed.
What if I have filed my returns but there is an error?
After an income tax return is filed, it is processed by the CPC, Income Tax Department. However, after processing, if an assessee realises that some income was not reported, or some deduction was not availed of in the return computation, it is possible to file a revised return.
What happens if I have failed to file ITR even by March 31?
In case you fail to file your ITR by 31st March 2019 and the income tax department comes to know about it, the income tax department can levy a penalty of 50 percent on the income for the year/s. Moreover, it can also launch prosecution against you for your failure to file your ITR in case the tax sought of be evaded is more than Rs 3,000. The period of imprisonment may vary between two years and seven years depending on the amount of tax involved.
