From Advance Tax To Filing Updated IR, Check These Important Dates In March To Avoid Penalties

Financial deadlines may pertain to linking your PAN-Aadhaar documents, and payment of advance tax to the filing of updated Income Tax returns. Check details here

March is considered one of the important months from a financial perspective as individuals need to meet various deadlines. Some of the deadlines may pertain to linking PAN-Aadhaar, payment of advance tax to the filing of updated Income Tax returns. In case you fail to meet these deadlines, penalties can be levied and you may also face other consequences.

Check financial deadlines to meet in March

PAN-Aadhaar linking

The Income Tax department has recently asked taxpayers to link the two documents, PAN and Aadhaar on or before March 31, 2023. “As per Income-tax Act, 1961, it is mandatory for all PAN holders, who do not fall under the exempt category, to link their PAN with their Aadhaar before 31.3.2023. From 1.04.2023, the unlinked PAN shall become inoperative,” the IT department said recently in a tweet. A late fee of Rs1,000 will be applicable to link PAN and Aadhaar.

Advance tax payment

The last date to pay the final installment of advance tax payment for the Financial year 2022 - 2023 is 15th March, 2023, according to the Income Tax department. Going by section 208 of the Income Tax Act, every individual whose estimated tax liability for the year is Rs 10,000 or more, shall pay his tax in advance, in the form of “advance tax".

However, a resident senior citizen (i.e., an individual of the age of 60 years or above during the relevant financial year) who do not have any income from business or profession is not liable to pay advance tax.

Advance tax is tax payable by individuals who have sources of income other than their salary. This is applicable to rent, capital gains from shares, fixed deposits, lottery winnings, etc.

 File updated ITR for FY19-20

The deadline to file an updated income tax return (ITR) for FY 2019-20 is March 31, 2023. The Union Budget 2022 had made a proposal to allow taxpayers to file updated returns by paying additional tax for up to two years from the end of the assessment year in which the income should have been accounted for. Taxpayers who have missed reporting any income can file an ITR-U. The ITR U form was introduced for updating income tax returns which came as a rescue for those who have not filed their ITR or made inaccurate and false entries while filing their income tax returns.

 Investing in Pradhan Mantri Vaya Vandana Yojana

Pradhan Mantri Vaya Vandana Yojana (PMVVY), introduced in 2019, provides a regular income to senior citizens. The last date to invest in the scheme is 31 march, 2023.

Anyone above the age of 60 years can participate in the scheme, and there is no maximum entry age, with a tenure of 10 years from the date of issue. At present, the scheme offers an interest rate of 7.4 per cent per annum. The interest rate remains the same for the entire tenure of 10 years. Senior citizens can invest a maximum amount of Rs15 lakh in PMVVY.

 Tax saving investment

The deadline to opt for tax-saving investments for FY22-23 is approaching with March 31 as the deadline. This is important for those who opt for the old tax regime for the financial year 2022-23. Taxpayers can claim various deductions for investments under the old tax regime. Those who haven't opted for any tax saving scheme for FY 2022-23 can still invest in various schemes. Under section 80,  a taxpayer can claim a deduction of up to Rs1.5 lakh from various investments including premiums paid for life insurance policies, PPF, and ELSS among others. The other one is 80D, under which you can claim premiums paid for health insurance policies. An additional deduction of Rs50,000 for investing in the National Pension System (NPS).