The Ministry of Finance is not planning to extend the deadline for filing income tax returns. The last date for filing income tax (I-T) returns for the financial year 2022-23 (assessment year 2023-24) is July 31. Revenue Secretary Sanjay Malhotra on Friday said that there is no proposal under consideration for extending the ITR filing deadline like last year. 


“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, as per a Business Today report. He was asked if the government was planning to extend the ITR deadline in view of the floods and heavy rains in parts of north India.


As per the report, Malhotra advised taxpayers to file their income tax returns promptly to prevent a last-minute rush. He emphasised that a staggered filing process is beneficial for the IT system.


The revenue secretary also mentioned that by July 12, over 10 million additional tax returns had been filed compared to the corresponding period the previous year. The total number of returns filed reached approximately 22 million, surpassing the 11.8 million filed by July 12, 2022. Based on this data, he said that there is no apparent need to extend the filing deadline.


Also Read: ITR: Here Are Some Common Documents You May Require For Filing


According to the BT report, as of July 13, the number of filed Income Tax Returns (ITRs) for Assessment Year 2023-24 (fiscal year 2022-23) had reached 23.4 million, with 21.7 million returns verified. Additionally, a total of 8.48 million verified ITRs for Assessment Year 2023-24 had been processed. It is important to note that late filing of income tax returns can result in a penalty of up to Rs 5,000.


While the overall process of filing returns has been relatively smooth, there have been requests for an extension of the deadline by at least one month due to the floods. As per the report, some tax practitioners have pointed out that the deadline for filing Goods and Services Tax (GST) returns also falls on July 31.