ITR deadline extended but don't wait till September 30 to file it. Here's why

The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) recently extended the last date for filing belated and revised Income Tax Returns (ITR) for FY2018-19 (AY2019-20) to September 30, 2020. This was done in view of the constraints due to the COVID-19 pandemic and to further ease compliances for taxpayers.

This belated return can be filed with a late fine of Rs 10,000. A belated return attracts late filing fees under section 234F of the Income Tax Act.

The extension may look as a relief for taxpayers facing issues due to the pandemic. However, experts say that taxpayers should immediately file the belated returns in order to avoid extra charges apart from the penalty fee.

How to file ITR?

“Waiting for the last minute is not advisable,” they opine.

In case of unpaid taxes, the interest is levied on the tax due for period of delay.

"Month on month, if the return gets delayed, interest is charged for late filling," states Sandeep Sehgal, director-taxes and regulatory, AKM Global, a consulting firm.

This means taxpayers will be liable to pay interest per month or part of a month for delay in filing the return of income.

Additionally, interest under section 234B (at slightly reduced rate of 0.75 percent) and 234C will also be levied, according to Archit Gupta, founder and chief executive officer, ClearTax.

Filing ITR early is also important to receive refunds on a timely basis. As per the current tax rules, interest on refunds is paid from the date of filing of return in case of late returns.

This means more is the delay, less is the refund amount (as less interest will be added)

"This is vital especially for those who sold a property and want to claim refund of TDS deducted by buyer since they have invested the proceeds to claim capital gains exemption," opines Gupta.