Income Tax Return (ITR) is filed before July 31 of the assessment year to avoid penalty. It is filed for financial year (in this case) 2017-18 in the assessment year (in this case) 2018-19 for excess tax paid either through Tax Deducted at Source (TDS) or in the form of advance tax. Below are the cases to look out for before filing for income tax returns.
- An individual tax payer who is less than 60 years old with a total annual income of ₹2,50,000 or 60-80 years old with annual total income of ₹3,00,000 or above 80 years with an annual income of ₹5,00,000 are all exempted from paying income tax.
- Others who file for ITR on or before the July 31 deadline will receive refund of the excess tax paid at the rate of 0.5% per month from April 1 of the assessment year.
However if the deadline is missed then
- If the belated returns is filed after July 31 and before December 31 of the assessment year, then ₹5,000 must be paid as penalty
- If the belated returns is filed after December 31 but before the end of the assessment year Mar 31, then ₹10,000 must be paid as penalty
ITR filing after March 31 of Assessment year
In cases where belated returns are filed after March 31 of the assessment year 2018-19 (in this case) for the financial year 2017-18, then a Condonation of delay request with the IT department must be filed within 6 years of the assessment year. So if the assessment year is 2018-19, then the request can be filed by March 31, 2024. The IT department responds typically in 6 months and a penalty is also levied.
Section 234F
Under Section 234F, if the total annual income is less than ₹5, 00,000 then a tax penalty of ₹1,000 must be paid despite the category the tax payer fell under. This was included in the Budget 2017 by Arun Jaitley effective for the financial year 2017-18 and the assessment year 2018-19.
Section 139(1)
Under the forth provision of this Section, an individual holding assets outside India, that is shares of foreign companies and the like fall under the penalty bracket even if their income is less than ₹2, 50,000 for late filing.