The government on Tuesday extended the due date for filing income tax returns by individuals for financial year 2018-19 by a month till August 31. Individuals, including salaried taxpayers, and entities - who do not need to get their accounts audited - were required to file their income tax returns for fiscal 2018-19 (Assessment Year 2019-20) by July 31, 2019. "The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) extends the 'due date' for filing of Income Tax Returns from July 31, 2019, to August 31, 2019, in respect of the said categories of taxpayers," the finance ministry said in a statement.
There have been demands for an extension in filing ITR date since issuance of tax deducted at source (TDS) statement for 2018-19 fiscal was delayed. Income Tax department had last month extended the deadline for employers to issue Form 16 TDS certificate for financial year 2018-19 to its employees by 25 days till July 10. This left the salaried taxpayers with a limited time-frame of just 20 days to file their income tax returns.
The threshold exemption limit is Rs 5 lakh. However, if you have spent Rs 2 lakh on a foreign trip or have run up electricity bills of Rs 1 crore annually then you have to file income tax return. Even if you miss the last date you can file your I-T return any time during 2019-20 (till March 31, 2020). But there is a hefty fine to be paid for not filing by the due date. Last week, the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) had said that no change has been made in income-tax return (ITR) forms, only the utility software has been updated, quashing reports circulating on social media about "large-scale changes" in the forms troubling taxpayers. The policy-making body of the Income Tax Department issued a statement saying the updating process of these forms' utility software does not hamper the filing of returns, the deadline for which is August 31.
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