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Here's Mihir's take on how to deal with tax filing if you have missed your July 31, 2022 deadline.
For the Financial Year 2021-22 that ended on March 31, 2022, individual taxpayers, who are not required to do audit of books of accounts, were required to file their Income Tax Returns (ITR) by July 31, 2022.
If, due to any reason, the due date of July 31, 2022 is missed, then a belated ITR can also be filed on or before December 31, 2022. However, keep in mind that every extension comes with its own sets of benefits and sacrifices to be made.
Due Date for filing Original return was July 31, 2022
Due Date for filing Belated/Revised return is December 31, 2022
Let's take a quick look at issues related to filing a Belated ITR.
Filing a Belated ITR
- If you have a tax refund due from the Income Tax Department, then filing a belated ITR allows you to claim such tax refund;
- Losses of the current year are allowed to be set-off from other incomes as per the provisions of income tax law;
- Investment based deductions can still be claimed such as LIC premium, medical insurance, PF, NPS, Tax Saver mutual funds, Tax Saver FDs, Repayment of housing loans, etc.;
- Belated return filed can also be revised on account of any error or omission in the filed ITR on or before December 31, 2022
Sacrifices involved while filing a Belated ITR
- Specific Losses of Current Year cannot be carried forward to future years like losses from short or long term capital loss, losses from business or profession (excluding depreciation), losses from activity of owning and maintaining race horses. However, Loss from House Property can be carried forward;
- Interest on default in filing belated return applies @1 per cent per month or part thereof that immediately starts from the date following the due date of filing of ITR and ends on the date of filing of ITR;
- Mandatory late return filing fees that range from Rs 1,000-5,000 (depending on taxable income);
- Interest on Income Tax Refund, if applicable, will be calculated from the date of filing ITR and not from April 1, 2022.
Things to bear in mind while filing an ITR
- The Income Tax Department already has a lot of information about your incomes that are collected from various sources and the same are reflected in online statements like AIS, TIS and Form 26AS. It is advisable to access these documents and wisely offer income to taxes;
- If there is variation between the TDS/TCS or tax payments as provided in Form 26AS and the TDS/TCS or tax payments provided in AIS, the Taxpayer may rely on the TDS/Tax payment information provided in 26AS for the purpose of filing of tax return and for computing Pre-paid Taxes;
- Where tax deducted by tax deductors is not reflected in your Form 26AS, you can claim those tax deducted in your ITR but credit is given at the initial processing of ITR only if it appears in 26AS. Thus, the same is advised to be communicated to your tax deductors;
- Always check if new concessional tax regime is beneficial for you resulting in less tax payable, if any; If Taxpayer is 'Opting In' for New Tax Regime for the first time in Assessment Year 2022-23, then Taxpayer having business income is required to file Form 10-IE and Acknowledgement Number and Date of Filing needs to be mentioned by selecting 'Opting in Now' option in ITR-3/4;
- Income tax return filed after July 31, 2022 is required to be verified within 30 days;
- E-Payment of taxes has become easier now. The e-Filing website now offers "e-Pay Tax" service under tab "e-file" with wide range of modes for payment of taxes including Net Banking, Debit card, Pay at Bank Counter (Over the Counter), RTGS/NEFT and Payment Gateway (with sub-payment modes as Net Banking, Debit Card, Credit Card and UPI).
- If an individual has done share trading/MF redemption and earned long term gain. Though taxable Income is below 5 lakh, tax will be levied on long term capital gain as rebate is not available on it.
Who is required to file ITR?
- People with Sales turnover of Rs 60 lakh and above from Business
- Professional income exceeding Rs 10 lakh
- TDS or TCS of Rs 25,000 or more (Rs 50,000 or more in case of senior citizen)
- Deposited at least Rs 50 lakh in one or more savings accounts
- Deposited amounts exceeding Rs 1 crore in one or more current accounts
- Spending above Rs 2 lakh on a foreign country travel
- Electricity bill exceeding Rs 1 lakh
- Where there is an income from foreign sources for resident
- If a person's gross total income is higher than the exemption threshold before obtaining capital gains tax break under relevant sections