Important dates to remember while filing your ITR this time!

Have you filed your income tax returns till now? If not, don't forget that July 31st is the last date to file your ITR, without paying any penalties. However, if you miss this deadline, you can still file your ITR by December 31st, 2024. But then, you will have to pay a hefty penalty! To avoid any hassles, here's a handy guide you can use to bookmark all the dates associated with ITR filing this year

13 days from now, i.e., 31st July 2024 is the last date for salaried individuals, non-resident Indians (NRIs), Hindu undivided families (HUF) and other entities to file their income tax returns. This date, unless extended, is final for those do not require a prior audit of their books of accounts. Per experts, a date extension seems unlikely, given that there has been no formal notification from the Finance Ministry as yet.

Remember that if you are a salaried individual and do not file your ITR by July 31st, you could face serious consequences, which include:

• In case your net annual taxable income is up to Rs 5,00,000, you will have to pay a fine of Rs 1,000 while filing your belated return.
• If your net annual taxable income exceeds Rs 5,00,000, you will have to pay a fine of Rs 5,000.

However, the biggest loss in case of filing belated ITR would be the inability to opt for old tax regime. All ITR filed belatedly, or after July 31st, will automatically be processed under the new regime.

In case you have significant investments in ELSS, NPS, PPF under Section 80C, HRA exemptions, your tax liability could be significantly higher under the new tax regime, since it does not offer many exemptions and deductions generally available under the old regime.

For businesses which require an audit before filing their ITR, 31st October 2024 is the last date to file ITR, sans any penalties.

Filing revised/belated ITR

The last date for filing a belated or revised ITR is 31st December. You can file a revised ITR in case:

• You have unintentionally missed out on reporting any significant income
• You missed out on claiming tax-saving deductions in your initial ITR
• You have opted for the wrong ITR form, and want to change it
• You receive a notice from the IT department highlighting discrepancies in your original ITR

Note that you don't have to pay any penalties while filing a revised ITR. And while not advisable, you can revise your ITR multiple times. Once a revised return is filed, the IT department considers it as your final ITR.

You can also file an updated return within 2 years of the relevant assessment year (in this case 2023-24). This means that the last date to file your updated return for this cycle will be March 31st, 2027. But note that you cannot revise your updated returns i.e., it can be filed only once for any particular assessment year.

Also, you will have to pay additional tax equal to 25% of the total of tax and interest payable, if you file the updated return before 12 months of the end of relevant assessment year.

In case you file your updated return after more than 12 months, but less than 24 months from the relevant assessment year have passed, your additional tax payable would be 50% of the aggregate of tax and interest payable.