An extension in the income tax return filing deadline is unlikely, Central Board of Direct Taxes Chairman Ravi Agarwal said on July 26. He also said that the old income tax regime will continue for now and decision on its further continuation will be taken based on the response to the new tax regime and the feedback from taxpayers.
The deadline for filing income tax returns is July 31 for individuals and non-audit cases for the fiscal 2023-24.
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“As many as 4.7 crore income tax returns have been filed by July 25 this year, which is about 8 percent to 9 percent higher than what was filed in the same period last year. We received 28 lakh returns on July 25. All this indicates people are filing, it is an upward curve so we will stick to the deadline,” he told Business Today.
When asked about the continuation of the old income tax regime, the CBDT Chief said that the government is encouraging taxpayers to opt for the new income tax regime and has given all benefits to the new regime.
However, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had in the post Budget press conference said that the government cannot comment on a possible phase out of the old tax regime.
A decision on the old income tax regime may be taken by the end of the year depending on the response from taxpayers as well as the feedback, on why some of them still prefer the old tax regime. “We will see if we can build these features in the new tax regime also. Ultimately, the intention is to nudge taxpayers to the new income tax regime,” he said.
The Union Budget 2024-25 has announced a number of tax benefits for the new income tax regime, including a rejig in the slabs as well as a higher standard deduction of Rs 75,000 crore and higher deduction for family pension. These can result in savings on income tax of up to Rs 17,500.
About 70 percent of tax filers had opted for the new tax regime last fiscal.
Meanwhile, the CBDT chairman also ruled out any rethink on the long term capital gains tax on real estate under which the long term capital gains tax has been lowered to 12.5 percent from the previous 20 percent but the indexation benefit has been removed and underlined that this would be more beneficial to property buyers.
“We don’t see any reason for a rethink on this,” he said, adding that the entire issue has to be seen in the context of property appreciation and the ultimate tax liability. “Instead of just being guided by some calculations, we have to see the ground reality,” he added.
The CBDT chairman said the way property rates have gone up across properties, the new capital gains tax regime will be beneficial. Further, in a case where a person has sold a property and purchased a new property, then the rolling over benefit is also available, according to him.
He also underlined that property purchases could also become more transparent as people would pay tax at lower rates.