AY 2020-21: What Are The New Penalties For Late Of Filing Of ITR This Year?

In the perspective of the pandemic, the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) previously extended the last date for filing ITR for income received in FY 2019-20 (Assessment Year 2020-21) to December 31, 2020. Typically, taxpayers are required to file ITR by July 31, but owing to the pandemic, an exception was rendered this year. So, if you’re going to be late, you will have to figure things out for two more days. Again, another distinction between ignoring last year’s ITR filing deadline and skipping it – December 31 – this year is that this season you will have to pay a penalty of Rs 10,000, whereas last year when the penalty for late ITR filing was just Rs 5000 within a few months of skipping the deadline. That being said, this penalty or late filing fee will be available only if the net cumulative income of the taxpayer (i.e. income after seeking qualifying deductions and tax exemptions) in the fiscal year exceeds Rs 5 lakh.

“A delay in filing your ITR comes with a host of consequences,” stated Kush Vatsaraj, Associate, TP Ostwal & Associates LLP. One of these is a liability of Rs 5,000 for ITRs submitted after the deadline. Nevertheless, if the ITR is filed after December 31 of the corresponding Assessment Year, this liability doubles to Rs 10,000. Adequately, all ITRs filed late will fall with a penalty of Rs 10,000 for FY 2019-20, as the initial due date for standard ITRs has been postponed to December 31, 2020.

The Due Date for filing of ITR is almost here.
File your ITR NOW to avoid late filing fee.
Smart Bano, Aaj Hi File Karo.

To File your #ITReturn for AY 2020-21, visit https://t.co/EGL31K6szN
#ITRFileKaroJhatpat#AY202021#ITR@nsitharamanoffc @Anurag_Office @FinMinIndia @PIB_India pic.twitter.com/Z8H1qBAQKu

— Income Tax India (@IncomeTaxIndia) December 25, 2020

Typically, a late filing penalty under section 234F is classified as follows:

• A penalty of Rs. 5000 is applicable if the ITR is filed after the timeframe but on or before December 31 of the relevant assessment year. As the due date has been revised to December 31, 2020, this is not valid for ITR filing for FY 2019-20.
• Even if the ITR is submitted after 31 December but before the end of the applicable year of assessment, i.e. before 31 March (in the current context before 31 March 2021), a penalty of Rs. 10,000 is levied.
• In a situation where the assessee’s gross revenue is not more than Rs. 5 lakh a year, Rs. 1000 is the maximum penalty charged to him or her for the default in filing the ITR. In a scenario where there is tax dodging of more than Rs. 25 lakh, as per the Income Tax Department website, the penalty may be imprisonment for 6 months to 7 years.
• Although individual taxpayers whose revenue is over the deduction cap but whose tax due has already been paid in full will have to incur the penalty if they submit a late ITR, i.e. after the 31 December deadline, as valid.