We often procrastinate the tax filing and realise to do it when only a few hours are left to complete income tax returns. Today, i.e. July 31, 2022, is the deadline for filing ITR. The income tax agency has been urging people who are employed to file their tax returns by the deadline in order to avoid late fees or penalties. To be clear to taxpayers, earning people who miss the deadline for filing their ITRs must pay a late fee of up to 5,000 rupees and risk facing a 6 to 7-year jail sentence. Other than this, they won’t be able to carry losses over or offset them against the year’s earnings. Let’s have a look at the penal provision in case you miss the deadline.
Financial punishment:
Read more: 3 Mistakes that cause a delay in receiving income tax returns
Regarding the financial penalty assessed to taxpayers who submit their ITRs after the deadline, if a wage earner forgets to submit their ITR by the deadline, they may still do so by paying a late charge. If the yearly taxable income is at least 5 lakh, the late fee is Rs. 5,000; if it is less than 5 lakh, the late cost is Rs. 1,000. When the taxpayer files their ITR after the deadline of July 31, 2022 but before the closing date of December 31, 2022, the aforementioned late fee will be charged.
Additionally, the income tax department may assess a penalty of 50 percent to 200 percent on the taxpayer’s actual income tax outlay in addition to the tax and interest due up until the date the taxpayer files their ITR in response to the income tax notice from the department if an earning individual fails to submit an ITR after the deadline of December 31, 2022.
One might end up in jail
The Indian government has the authority to seek charges against an earner who fails to submit an ITR by the deadline, which is the 31st of December 2022 for the tax year 2022–2023. The maximum term under current income tax laws is seven years in prison with a minimum sentence of six months. The department does not have the authority to bring charges against you for every incident of ITR failure. Only if the amount of tax being avoided surpasses 10,000 can the income department file a lawsuit.