No proposal to extend due date for filing income tax returns: Revenue Secretary

The Union finance ministry is not planning to extend the deadline for filing of income tax returns, a top official said.

“There is no proposal under consideration and we don’t intend to. My advice to all the taxpayers is that they should file their tax returns. There will not be any extension in the deadline like last year and the earlier they do it the better,” said Revenue Secretary Sanjay Malhotra, when asked if there was any plan to extend the deadline in view of the floods and heavy rains in north India.

In an interaction with Business Today, Malhotra advised taxpayers to file their income tax returns in time to avoid any last-minute rush. “It's better for our IT system that it (return filing) is staggered,” he said.

The deadline for filing income tax returns (ITR) for fiscal year 2022-23 is July 31.

By July 12, over 10 million more tax returns had been filed compared to the same period last year, he said, adding that about 22 million returns had been filed as against 11.8 million by July 12, 2022. “So, there does not seem to be any reason to extend the deadline,” he further noted.

By July 13, the number of ITRs filed for Assessment Year 2023-24 (fiscal 2022-23) had risen to 23.4 million while the number of returns verified for the AY was 21.7 million. As many as 8.48 million verified ITRs for AY 2023-24 had also been processed.

While the return filing process has been largely smooth, there have been some requests for an extension in the deadline by at least one month on account of the floods. Further the deadline for filing goods and services tax return also falls on July 31, some tax practitioners have noted.

Late filing of income tax returns can lead to a penalty of up to Rs 5,000.