Filing an Income Tax Return (ITR) is a vital part of fulfilling your tax obligations, and one must be well aware of the deadlines for filing ITR. For taxpayers not requiring audit, the due date to file ITR for Financial Year 2023-24 (Assessment Year 2024-25) was July 31, 2024. In case the deadline has passed, one can still submit a belated return, and this deadline is December 31, 2024. The filing needs to be done before that date in order to avoid penalty charges as well as interest accumulation. Stay updated with the rules for filing taxes to prevent any hurdles.
All taxpayers, however, have the same deadline for filing a revised return and a belated return. Many taxpayers are unaware of the penalties they may incur if they fail to file the revised and belated returns for FY 2023-24 by the deadline of December 31, 2024.
Consequences of Missing the ITR Filing Deadline
Fines for filing delayed: There is a Rs 5,000 penalty for taxpayers who file their taxes after the deadline. The fine is Rs 1,000 for anyone whose income is less than Rs 5 lakh. The purpose of this penalty is to incentivise prompt adherence to tax reporting deadlines.
Interest: Under Section 234A, taxpayers who owe unpaid taxes will be charged interest at 1% per month until the tax is paid. This extra expense can add up rapidly, raising the overall amount due.
Loss of exemptions: Under the old tax system, filing a late return resulted in the loss of exemptions. The new tax system will apply to taxpayers filing delayed returns, prohibiting deductions and exemptions under sections 80C and 80D, among other things.
Carrying over losses: Failure to file by the deadline results means the taxpayers will lose the chance to carry over capital losses to subsequent years. This could also affect taxpayers’ ability to deduct their losses from future capital gains.
The default tax regime: The new tax system will be the default tax regime for the fiscal year 2023-24. Late filers will immediately be switched to this regime and will no longer be eligible for deductions offered by the old tax system.
