When it comes to submitting your income tax return, the deadline is generally July 31st, but this year it has been extended until December 31st, 2021, for the general category of all taxpayers, whose accounts do not need to be audited and which includes all salaried individuals. What would happen if an individual taxpayer whose accounts are not audited misses the deadline and fails to submit his ITR by December 31, 2021 for the assessment year 2021-2022? Let’s have a conversation about this.
There is a common misconception that the due date is also the deadline for submitting your ITR, which is not true. The due date and the last date are both important when it comes to submitting an ITR. It is possible to file your ITR beyond the due date if you miss the deadline. It is now 31st December of the following year that all taxpayers whose accounts do not need to be audited must file their ITRs, and this timeframe has been extended to 31st July of the following year by an amendment to the legislation. It has been extended to December 31, 2021, and March 31, 2022, respectively, for the financial year 2020-21 for those taxpayers.
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Income Tax Return: The Government Provides Significant Clarification Regarding the ITR Process
What Happens If You Don’t Meet The Due Date?
However, if you fail to file your current ITR by the extended due date, which is the 31st of December 2021, you will lose your right to carry forward any losses from the current year and which cannot be offset against the current year’s income if you do not file a new ITR before the 31st of March 2022.
When it comes to losses under the categories of business income or capital gains and home property losses that exceed two lakh rupees in the current year, you will not be able to set them off in later years if the 31st December 2021 deadline is missed.
When taxes are paid by you or someone on your behalf that exceed your tax due, the excess tax paid is refunded and you are entitled to a refund, but you lose your entitlement to interest for the time of delay that is ascribed to you. Even if you have already paid the deficit by 31st March 2021, you will still have to pay interest on the time of delay in reporting your ITR, even if you have already paid the shortfall before then.
After The Due Date For Submitting Your ITR, You Must Pay A Late Fee.
In addition to the foregoing repercussions, if you file your ITR beyond the due date, you will be required to pay a flat late charge of Rs. 5,000 if your taxable income is greater than Rs. 5 lakhs. If your taxable income is less than Rs. 5 lakhs, the late charge is just Rs. 1,000.
Even though you may not owe any taxes, if you fail to file your ITR for whatever reason, you will be hit with a one-thousand rupee late fine. Under Section 87A, tax is not required if your gross total income exceeds the basic exemption amount applicable to you but does not exceed five lakhs. If you have to submit an ITR because you own assets outside of India or are a signatory to any accounts outside of India, or because you spent more than the stipulated threshold limit on energy or overseas travel, this may also happen.
What Happens If You Miss The Deadline For Submitting Your ITR?
You might face a penalty of up to 50% of the tax you saved by failing to submit your ITR by the extended due date of 31st March 2022, as well as any income tax and interest owed until you complete your return in response to warnings from the Tax Department.
Few individuals are aware that the government has the authority to pursue charges against you and send you to jail if you fail to submit your ITR by the deadline. Tax evasion is punishable by jail for up to seven years under current income tax regulations. It is not possible for the department to bring a case against you in every case when you fail to submit an ITR. Only if the amount of tax attempted to be evaded surpasses Rs. 10,000/- may the income department begin a criminal investigation.
