ITR Filing: Missed July Deadline? No Penalty If Taxpayers Fall In This Category

One must file a belated ITR by paying a penalty of Rs 5,000 as the deadline of July 31 has passed, but a few individual taxpayers are exempted from this penalty

Income tax return

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Those taxpayers who have missed the July 31 deadline to file an income tax return (ITR) for the assessment year 2022-23 and plan to file ITR will have to pay a penalty of Rs 5,000. However, in certain cases no penalty is levied even if one doesn’t file the income tax return by the due date. 

Who are exempted from paying the penalty?

If the assessee's total income falls within the basic exemption limit, no penalty will be levied, according to the exisiting law. Going by the new regime, the basic exemption limit for an individual taxpayer is Rs 2.5 lakh, while the exemption limit depends on the taxpayer's age under the old tax regime.

The exemption limit is Rs 2.50 lakh for taxpayers up to the age of 60 years while senior citizens aged between 60 and 80 years with annual earnings of up to Rs 3 lakh also fall under the exempt category. Note that the exemption limit for those above 80 years, super senior citizens, is Rs 5 lakh.

If you fall under the above categories, then you can file ITR without paying penalty even after the due date.

Are there any conditions?

There are two exceptions even for those taxpers who fit the basic exemption limit criteria. Certain section of individuals will be required to compulsorily file income tax even if the gross total income is lower than the basic exemption limit.

For instance, those who fall under the seventh provison of Section 139(1) will have to pay a late fee even if their gross total income is lower than the basic exemption limit.

Check the conditions below:

Individuals who have deposited an amount or aggregate of amounts exceeding Rs 1 crore or more in one or more accounts maintained with a bank or co-operative bank fall under the above-mentioned category.

Similarly, if an individual spends more than Rs 2 lakh for himself or someone towards travel to foreign countries also fall under the category.

An individual taxpayer who has paid electricity bills above Rs 1 lakh in a year also comes in this category.

Even if an individual's gross total income is below the basic income threshold but has income from foreign assets such as stocks of a foreign firm will have to pay the late fee for filing belated returns.