Last date of ITR filing today: Govt urges taxpayers to not miss deadline; all you need to know

Today is the last date of filing Income Tax Returns for the financial year 2019-20. The Income Tax department has been reminding taxpayers to file their return on time. "The Due Date for filing ITR for AY 2020-21 is almost here. Please do not leave it to the last minute," it had said. "Not Filed your ITR for AY2020-21 yet? Please do not miss the extended due date of 10th, January, 2021," it further tweeted.

The January 10 date was fixed after the government extended the return filing date for the third time in 2020. Usually the date of filing in a typical year is July 31. However, in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, the government pushed the date to November 30 and subsequently to December 31. As calls for extension grew louder, the government eventually extended the date one more time to January 10.

The January 10 deadline is for taxpayers whose accounts are not required to be audited and who file their returns using ITR-1 and ITR-4 forms. The due date for taxpayers requiring audit is February 15.

ITR-1 is opted by individuals whose income does not exceed Rs 50 lakh while ITR-4 is for individuals, who have an income of up to Rs 50 lakh and presumptive income from business and other professions.

"Some more statistics of Income Tax Returns filed today. 19,25,927 ITRs have been filed upto 2100 hrs today and 1,65,781 ITRs filed in the last 1hr," stated the Income Tax Department on Saturday.

However, the CA community is demanding a further extension. The immense pressure on the professionals has only increased in the last few days. Both CA professionals and taxpayers have asked the government to extend the deadline. Hashtags demanding extension continue to trend on social media.

Also read: ITR filing deadline ends tomorrow; taxpayers, CAs demand deadline extension