What if you fail to file your ITR by December 31, 2021

Is the due date also the last date for filing ITR?

Generally people are under the impression that the due date is also the last date after which you cannot submit your ITR, which is not correct. Two dates are relevant for filing ITR: one is the due date and the other is the last date. If you fail to submit your ITR by the due date, you can still file it till the last date. The due date for submission of ITR for each year, for all taxpayers whose accounts are not required to be audited, is 31st July of the year following the year for which ITR is to be filed and the last date as per the amended law Next year is 31st December. The due date and last date for filing ITR for such taxpayers have been extended to December 31, 2021 and March 31, 2022, respectively, for the financial year 2020-21.

What happens if you miss the deadline?

If you fail to submit your current ITR by the extended due date i.e. 31st December 2021, you can still do so till 31st March 2022, but you lose the right to carry forward any loss for the current year and Which cannot be set off against the current year. Income. So if you have, during the current year, business income or capital gain or loss exceeding two lakh rupees, then under the head House property and which you are entitled to carry forward for set-off in subsequent years, that Will not be able to do this if you miss the deadline of 31st December 2021.

If the taxes paid by you or on your behalf are in excess of your tax liability and therefore entitled to a refund for the additional taxes paid, you shall be entitled to receive interest on such additional tax paid for the period of delay. lose their rights. To you. If the tax paid by you or on your behalf is less than your total tax liability, then in addition to the interest for such shortfall, you will also have to pay interest for the period of delay in submission of your ITR, even if you had earlier Only payment has been made, the shortfall after March 31, 2021

Payment of delay in filing your ITR after due date

Apart from the above consequences, if your taxable income is more than five lakhs, you will have to mandatorily pay a flat late fee of five thousand rupees while filing your ITR if the ITR is submitted after the due date. However, the late fee is limited to Rs. 1,000/- in case the taxable income is less than Rs. five lakhs.

So if you are required to submit your ITR for any reason, even if no tax is payable by you, you will have to pay a late fee of Rs. This can happen if your gross total income exceeds the basic exemption limit applicable to you but does not exceed five lakhs and no tax is payable on account of exemption available under section 87A. This can happen even if you have to file ITR for owning any property outside India or being a signatory to any account outside India or spending on electricity or foreign travel in excess of specified limit limits.

What if you fail to submit your ITR even by the last date?

If you fail to file your ITR by the extended due date i.e. 31st March 2022, the Income Tax Department may impose a minimum penalty equal to 50% of the tax, which could have been avoided by you by not filing the ITR. Income tax and interest liability till the date you file your ITR in response to the notice from the tax department.

Not many people know that the government has the power to prosecute you and put you behind bars if you do not file your ITR by the due date. The current Income Tax Act provides for imprisonment of a minimum of three years and a maximum of seven years. It is not that the department can prosecute you in every case of failure to file ITR. The Income Tax Department can initiate a lawsuit only if the amount sought to evade tax exceeds Rs. 10,000/-.

I am sure that after reading this article you have made up your mind to file your ITR before 31st December 2021.

The author is a tax and investment expert and can be reached at jainbalwant@gmail.com and @jainbalwant on Twitter