Although more than seven crore income tax returns (ITR) were filed until 7 pm on July 31, 2024, there would still be hundreds of thousands of taxpayers who have yet not filed their income tax returns. Such taxpayers who missed filing their income tax returns on time, i.e., before the July 31 deadline, can file a belated income tax return. Let us understand more about this here.
What is a belated return?
A belated return under section 139(4) of the Income Tax (I-T) Act is a return filed after the passing of the deadline. The taxpayers who failed to file a return on or before July 31 can file a belated return.
People are allowed to file a belated return by December 31 of the relevant assessment year.
It is, however, vital to remember that the taxpayers who file belated return are not given any reprieve from the penalty for late filing of return.
1. Penalty: Late filing of income tax return beyond July 31 invites a penalty of ₹5,000. The small taxpayers whose income is below ₹5 lakh are made to cough up a penalty of ₹1,000 when they file the tax return after the deadline.
2. Interest: When there is a tax liability, taxpayers are required to pay a penalty at the rate of 1 per cent per month under section 234A of the Income Tax (I-T) Act beginning August 1 till the date of payment of tax.
3. Entitlement to exemptions: When taxpayers file the income tax return (ITR) after July 31, they lose their entitlement to exemptions which are given under the old tax regime.
Chirag Chauhan, a Mumbai-based chartered accountant, said, “Missing the July 31 deadline means forfeiture of benefits tied to the old tax regime because taxpayers will be shifted to the new tax regime since it is the default option.”
4. Carry forward of losses: Once you miss the deadline to file the income tax return, you are not allowed to carry forward the capital losses to subsequent years.
Since the default regime for FY 2023-24 is the new tax regime, anyone filing an income tax return after July 31 gets switched to the new tax regime, wherein he loses entitlement to deductions and exemptions under sections 80C and 80D, among others.
It may be noted that taxpayers should not miss verifying the return after the income tax return has been submitted.
The easiest way to verify a return is to do it online. So, it is recommended to opt for online verification of ITR because of its speed and convenience.
