On the last day of filing the Income Tax Returns (ITR) for the fiscal year 2021-22, around 67,97,067 ITRs had been filed up to 11 PM on Sunday, July 31 and more than 4.5 lakhs ITRs were filed on an hourly basis last evening.
The deadline for filing IT returns by those taxpayers who do not have to get their accounts audited for the fiscal year that ended on March 31, 2022, was yesterday. As per the Income Tax department, over 63.47 lakh ITRs were filed by taxpayers till 10 PM on Sunday. More than 5.1 crore tax returns were filed till July 30. The deadline for filing the ITR was midnight of July 31, after which the tax-return filers would have to pay a late fee for delayed filing.
Meanwhile, many taxpayers had been complaining of technical glitches on the official website. Many took to Twitter demanding the extension of the ITR filing deadline. They urged the Finance Minister to consider their request. The hashtag “#Extend_Due_Date_Immediately” was trending on Twitter, with widespread requests for an immediate extension.
Notably, the government had earlier made it clear that there is no plan to extend the ITR filing due dates this year. In the last fiscal year (2020-21), about 5.89 crore ITRs were filed by the extended due date of December 31, 2021. Over the last month, the IT department has been nudging the taxpayers to file their ITRs for 2021-22 fiscal to avoid the levy of the late fee.
- According to tax laws, a late fee of Rs 5,000 would be payable by those with an annual income of over Rs 5 lakh, if they file their ITR by December 31 of the assessment year.
- Individuals with an annual income of below Rs 5 lakh will be liable to pay a late fee of Rs 1,000 for delayed return filing.
- Besides, those who have outstanding unpaid taxes will have to shell out an additional 1 percent interest per month for delayed filing.
- The late fee will not apply to those taxpayers whose income is below the taxable limit.
The department had also asked the taxpayers to seek assistance regarding ITR filing by sending e-mails to orm@cpc.incometax.gov.in or calling help desk numbers 1800 103 0025 and 1800 419 0025.