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Will the Last Date for ITR filing for AY 2024-25 be extended?

Submitted by admin on August 6th, 2024

We are now back to the time of the year when everyone is rushing to file their taxes. At such a crucial time, while many individuals are struggling to file their taxes online due to browser incompatibility and at times even server issues, there is a huge confusion about the last date or due date for filing taxes.

If you are filing your taxes for the first time or do not know much about filing taxes online, read on so that you are no longer confused.

For those who fall in the non-audit taxpayer category, the last date for filing taxes without having to pay a penalty or interest is the 31^st of July, 2024. Warnings regarding circulation of false news about extension of last date has been issued by the Income Tax department. Those circulating this false information are using the different last dates for different categories of tax payers to confuse people, who are in a rush to pay their taxes on time. If you are not clear about which category you belong to as a tax-payer, let’s find out.

Non-audit Taxpayers

In India, tax-payer accounts which fall under different categories have different rules, so according to the Income Tax Act these are the accounts which do not need to undergo an audit:

Individuals: People who fall into this category are salaried employees or those whose income comes from pensions, capital gains, or house property and other similar sources.

Hindu Undivided Families: Also commonly known as HUF, this category is described as a group of people who have all descended from the same ancestor. This unit includes a grandfather or great-grandfather, all their married sons, their spouses, and their offspring. Married daughters are not considered as a part of this family unit, since they are considered under their spouse’s family unit. The HUF has a certain threshold below which they are not audited and can use this to pay taxes on income generated through assets under the family name. This income is therefore, not considered in any individual’s income.

BOI and AOP: Body of Individuals and Associations of Persons are groups formed by two or more individuals, and have an income limit below which they will not be audited. The only difference between the two is that in AOP the individuals have a common purpose or business whereas in BOI they do not have any specific business objective.

Small businesses: A business whose annual turnover does not exceed Rs. 1 crore through its commercial activities is classified as a small business. For tax purposes an exception can be made for businesses with an annual turnover below Rs 2 crore and they can also be considered a small business, by opting for presumptive taxation scheme, which falls under Section 44AD. These businesses are not required to undergo an audit and can file ITR (Income Tax Returns) based on their net profit.

Professionals: Experts offering specialized services including lawyers, doctors, consultants and chartered accountants belong in this category. When their annual gross receipts are below Rs 50 lakh, their income need not be audited.

Now that you know who non-audited tax payers are and what the deadline for filing their ITR is, let us find out about the other important dates for taxpayers.

Important dates for taxpayers in India

1^st April 2024: This is the start date for taxpayers to begin filing their income tax returns. The Income Tax Department gives sufficient time and notice for tax payers to file their taxes within the due dates and an opportunity to file taxes after the due date by paying a fine.

31^st July 2024: The last date for taxpayers in the non-audit category to pay their taxes without incurring any late fine or additional interest charges.

31^st October 2024: Unless extended by the Income Tax department, businesses requiring audits must file their taxes by this date.

30^th November 2024: If not extended by the Income Tax Department, this is the final date for businesses, which require additional transfer pricing reports after being audited.

31^st December, 2024: The last day of the year 2024 is the final day for those who want to file their taxes as belated or late. It is also the due date for those filing revised returns.  Filing taxes for the assessment year 2024-2025 is not possible after this, unless it is an updated return.

31^st March, 2027: Taxpayers are given a chance to voluntarily rectify any intentional or unintentional errors in their original, revised, or belated return. This cannot be used to get a refund or to reduce tax liability.

What happens when you miss filing your ITR before the deadline?

Late fee

Since, you were unable to file your taxes on time, you will have to pay a late fee when filing it before 31^st December, 2024. Section 234F of the Income Tax Act shows that those with income less than Rs 5 lakh must pay Rs 1000 as fine, whereas all others will have to pay Rs. 5000 as fine.

Interest

If you miss filing your returns before the due date, you incur additional losses and are required to pay additional interest over your unpaid taxes. According to Section 234A, you might have to pay 1% per month for every month you are delayed after the due date.

Unable to adjust losses

If you have suffered any financial losses in this year in your business, or mutual funds, or stock market or real estate, when you file your taxes before the due date, you are able to adjust these losses in the upcoming years. The amount of loss incurred this year through a particular income stream can be used to deduct the same amount for the same income stream for the upcoming years so that you do not have to pay a high amount as tax. By doing this you can adjust your profits and loss overtime and save through tax deductions.

However, if you do not file your taxes before the 31^st of July in 2024, you cannot utilize the loss calculated for financial year 2023-24 for tax deduction in the upcoming years.

What are your options if you failed to file ITR before the due date?

In case you were unable to file your income tax returns before the due date due to false news or some other unavoidable reason, you have two options to pay your taxes, without being charged for not paying your taxes by the income tax department.

Belated return filing

The first option is belated filing of returns which allows you to file your returns after the due date with a small fine and an interest on the amount of taxes you have not paid. You will also not be allowed to carry forward any losses to be adjusted in the upcoming years. You get several additional months and should pay your taxes for AY (assessment year) 2024-25 by the end of the year. The final due date for this belated filing of tax returns is the 31^st December 2024. Unless the government extends this date for some reason, ensure to file your taxes by this date to avoid being penalized or charged for not paying your taxes.

Updated return filing

The second option is filing an updated return. Sometimes people make unintentional errors when filing taxes and realize later that they have made a mistake and paid less tax than they should have. In such cases they have the option to file an updated return with the correct amounts and pay their taxes without it becoming a big deal. Those who have been unable to file taxes before 31^st December 2024 can also file their return statements at this time. To know more about the process on how to do this search “updated return” and go through the information to avoid making any mistakes.

What does Financial Year and Assessment Year mean?

Most individuals do not calculate their income, profit, loss and expenditure every month. They wait for a financial year to end before making all these calculations, so that they do not miss out on any amount and end up with a wrong calculation. Financial year or FY is the year during which all these income, profit, loss and expenditure occur and the financial year for which you are paying your taxes now started on 1^st April 2023 and ended on 31^st March 2024.  All the transactions occurred in this financial year will be reviewed in the next financial year, which is also known as the assessment year or AY.

Currently the assessment year is 2024-25, where you will be paying taxes for the recently ended financial year 2023-24.

Important dates for advance tax payments

It is not just filing of ITR which needs to be done before the due date. There are other tax formalities like payment of advance taxes which also need to be done before the due dates. Some important dates for advance payment of taxes are:

15^th June 2023: This is the date for the payment of the first instalment, where 15% of the estimated taxes calculated for this financial year need to be paid.

15^th September 2023: This is the due date till which the second instalment for advance tax must be paid. By this date at least 45% of the estimated tax based on your income and other calculations be paid. This 45% includes the previous instalment of 15% and an additional 30%.

15^th December 2023: The third instalment of advanced taxes to be paid based on estimation should be paid by this date. The cumulative taxes for the financial year at this point is 75%, which means another 30% of the taxes get paid by December.

15^th March 2024: By this date taxpayers are required to pay the entire amount of their tax liability for the current financial year. Additionally, this is also the due date for those taxpayers who have chosen to pay their taxes presumptively either under section 44AD or section 44ADA. For these taxpayers, they need to pay the entire amount calculated as tax by this date.

Two other sets of important due dates you need to know about if you are selling taxable items or employing people and are required to pay them salary and deduct taxes at the source.

TDS

It stands for Tax Deducted at Source, which means that when an employer is paying you a salary, they deduct tax at the source, from the amount which is being paid to you and then they directly pay it to the Income Tax Department. This tax must be paid by the deducting party, i.e., your employer once in every three months. A note of the tax paid on your behalf is noted against your PAN card number, ensuring that it does not get deducted from your account a second time.

The due dates for this are 30^th June 2023 for the first quarter, 30^th September 2023 for the second quarter, 31^st December 2023 for the third quarter and 31^st March 2024 for the fourth quarter.

TCS

This is the tax a business collects from its customers when it sells a product. Since, the seller is collecting the tax from the buyer, they are required to directly pay it to the government. This payment is also done on a quarterly basis using the form 27EQ. Upon filing these taxes, they are provided a certificate which is form 27D as proof of payment for every quarter.

Most of these dates mentioned above remain the same every year, however, the Income Tax Department might consider offering extensions depending on circumstances. No other body, other than the Income Tax Department can clarify with complete surety if the dates have been extended, so only believe information issued by them.

 

FAQs

Is it possible to claim a refund on income tax if I am late in filing my returns?

Yes, it is possible to claim a refund on your returns even if you are filing after the due date. The option to claim a refund only appears when filing tax returns, however, since you were late in filing you will have to pay a late fee. For this assessment year, i.e., 2024-2025, you must file your returns within 2024. The amount to be paid as fees is determined through a person’s income. Those whose income is less than Rs 5 lakh have to pay Rs 1000 and those who have income more than that have to pay Rs. 5000 as fees.

 

Is it possible to pay income tax after the due date?

In case you were unable to file your income tax returns or pay your income tax before the due date owing to these rumours, you still have the chance to complete the process. Once you have calculated your entire income from all sources, as well as all the deductions that apply to your individual case, you can file your ITR on any day before the 1^st of January, 2025. However, since you were late, according to the rules, you have to pay a fine, which is determined based on your total income. While you might believe that you should not be charged a late fine, because you believed rumours and should not be penalised for it. Charging alate fee ensures that from the next year, when filing taxes, you are extra careful and file way before the due date, or at least check all news before believing it to be true.

 

Under which section do I get the permission to file my ITR after the due date?

In the Income Tax Act, the section 139(4) allows those in the non-audit category to file their returns late. In this case, a late fee needs to be paid. The maximum amount charged as late fees or fine is Rs 5000, and is reduced for those with lower incomes.

 

When is the last date for filing ITR?

If you are an individual or belong to one of the other non-audit tax paying categories, the final date for filing your taxes is 31^st July. For those who require to be audited before paying taxes, their last date is 31^st October 2024. You can easily file your income tax online, even without needing professional assistance from experts.

 

Is it possible to revise my income tax returns before the due date (31^st July, 2024)?

If you have already filed your ITR before due date and are now looking to revise your returns you need not wait at all. You can immediately do it by filing under Section 139(5). The procedure is simple and quite similar to the normal process of filing for income tax returns. The only difference is that it needs to be done under section 139(5). When revising returns it is necessary to complete the e-verification process so that it is considered valid.

 

How to revise income tax returns after due date (31^st July, 2024)?

Yes, taxpayers can revise their income tax returns at any time before 31^st December, 2024, however they should keep in mind that this can only be done by filing the return under section 139(5). Even if you have filed a belated return and wish to revise it, you can do so before the due date for revised tax returns. In normal circumstances, taxpayers are not allowed to file returns after 31^st December, 2024 for the assessment year 2024-25. However, if yours was an extreme situation you can seek special permission and file your past returns under Section 119. This does not happen very commonly and only in very difficult situations permission is granted, file your tax returns promptly.

 

What will be the due date for ITR filing for a Trust?

The due date for ITR filing of a trust will be completely dependent on which category of taxpayers they belong to. If they are non-audited then they have to pay by 31^st July, and if they are audited, they have to pay by 31^st October in 2024. In case they are required to provide transfer pricing reports, then they too will have a last date of 30^th November, 2024.

 

When do I files for tax returns for my company?

If your turnover is less than Rs 1 crore in the last financial year (2023-24) you need to file your taxes before 31^st July 2024. However, if your company operates on a larger scale, you need to get audited and can then file for your taxes by 31^st October, 2024. In case you have any international transactions or even domestic transactions which require transfer pricing, you are required to provide a report through Form 3CEB which comes under section 92E. For this you are given additional time of one month and your due date for ITR filing is 30^th November, 2024.

 

Does my business need to submit an income tax audit report and what does this income tax audit entail?

The process of auditing requires inspection of a business’ books of accounts, to see if they are in compliance with all the regulations mentioned in the Income Tax Act of 1961. This is ensured by hiring a CA or a firm of CAs depending on the scale at which your company operates. If you are a professional and you’re the amount generated through your total reports annually is more than Rs 50 lakh you need to get audited. Also, if you have a business, which has more than Rs 1 crore of turnover annually, then your business needs to be audited. By undergoing audit from time to time, your business or practice remains safe and will not be questioned by the Income Tax Department or any other authorities regarding incomes and taxes.

 

Will my refund be delayed if I file my ITR after the due date?

Yes, your refund might be delayed if you delay filing your ITR, since refund only gets processed after ITR filing has been completed.

 

Will I be fined for filing my return statement even though my income is definitely below the taxable limit?

ITR filing can be done by anyone, regardless of whether their income is above the taxable limit, since it also serves as a proof of income which is often required for various reasons.

 

Can I file my Income Tax Returns if I missed the due date? And will I have to pay both penalty and interest for late filing?

Yes, even if you have missed the last date for filing income tax, you can still file ITR till the last day of the year, which in this case is the 31^st of December, 2024. If you are filing a velated return, you will not be able to file ITR according to the new tax regime and will not be able to adjust your losses in the next year. Yes, you will have to pay both interest and penalty for belated filing of income tax. If your taxable income is below Rs 5 lakh, you need to pay only Rs 1000 and if your taxable income is more than Rs 5 lakh you need to pay Rs. 5000 as the late fine. The interest is charged at 1% per month of the amount you paid as tax.

 

Is it possible to file ITR after 31^st December 2024 for assessment year 2024-25?

The Income Tax Department has made provisions for those who have been unable to file taxes by 31^st December, 2024 through ITR-U. Not only will they be required to pay a late penalty of Rs 5, 000 but additional tax will also be charged. They will also have to pay interest depending on how many months it takes them to file their returns for the financial year 2023-24. However, they only have 24 months or two years to file their ITR, since that is the duration offered for any updated ITR filing for a financial year. Therefore, it should be filed by 31^st March, 2027.