Despite various parts of the country battling floods and with Manipur under lockdown, the number of tax returns exceeded last year’s by over 70 lakh, and the department expects the number to hit 7 crore by midnight.
Last year, about 5.83 crore income tax returns were filed till July 31, which is the last date for filing ITRs by individuals and Hindu Undivided Family (HUF) entities.
“More than 6.50 crore ITRs have been filed so far (July 31), out of which about 36.91 lakh ITRs have been filed today till 6 pm!” the I-T department said in an official tweet.
“We have witnessed more than 1.78 crore successful logins on the e-filing portal till 6 pm, today,” it added.
Despite several representations from businesses, the income-tax department refused to extend the date for filing tax returns.Officials, however, said that the tax department will offer relief in penalty for those taxpayers who could not file their returns because of genuine difficulties. Despite witnessing huge traffic on the last date, the tax portal largely operated smoothly and the I-T department was actively assisting taxpayers for ITR filing, tax payments and other related services through calls, live chats, WebEx sessions and social media.
In case a person fails to file returns by July 31, he/she can file a belated return by December 31, 2023, but with a fine of ₹1,000 for income between ₹2.5 lakh and ₹5 lakh and a penalty of ₹5,000 for income over that. Also, those who fail to file returns till the due date cannot carry forward many losses, like business and capital losses for set off in subsequent years. Additionally, an interest of 1% per month shall be charged till the date of filing belated ITR.
