No Plan To Extend Deadline For Filing Income Tax Returns, Says Revenue Secretary Tarun Bajaj

Tarun Bajaj said over 2.3 crore income tax returns were filed by July 20 for FY21-22 and the numbers are picking up

Tarun Bajaj, revenue secretary.

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Revenue Secretary Tarun Bajaj on Friday said that the central government is not considering extending the last date for filing income tax returns (ITRs) as it expects most returns to come in by the due date of July 31, the PTI reported.

According to Bajaj, over 2.3 crore income tax returns were filed by July 20 for FY21-22. The numbers are picking up, he said.

About 5.89 crore ITRs were filed by the extended due date of December 31, 2021 during the last fiscal year.

Bajaj said, "People thought the routine now is that dates will be extended. So they were a little slow in filling the returns initially but now on a daily basis, we are getting between 15 lakhs and 18 lakh returns. This will slightly go up to 25 lakh to 30 lakh returns." Typically, return filers wait till the last day to file returns, he said.

"Last time 9-10 per cent filed on last day. Last time, we had over 50 lakh (filing returns on the last date). This time, I have told my people to be ready for 1 crore (returns being filed on the last day)," he said.

According to I-T rules, the deadline for filing ITRs by individual taxpayers who do not need to get their accounts audited is July 31 of the subsequent financial year. Through ITR, a person is supposed to submit to the Income Tax Department. It contains information about the person's income and the taxes to be paid on it during the year.

The Income Tax Department has prescribed 7 types of ITR forms, whose applicability will depend on the nature and amount of income and the type of taxpayer.

The tax department's new income tax filing portal is now very robust to take the increased loads. "So far, there is no thinking of extending the last date of filing," he said.

Bajaj said the feedback being received from taxpayers is that the return form has become very easy to file and that refunds are also being made in a very quick time.

Over the past two financial years, the government had extended the deadline for filing ITRs to ease compliance for taxpayers battling covid pandemic. 

With PTI inputs