What happens if you file ITR after the deadline?

The government of India provides the taxpayers with many extensions to file their ITR but after all, we’re humans and sometimes we fail to file it within time. The due date for filing ITR for the assessment year of 2020-2021 ended on January 10th, 2021. The usual deadline for filing tax returns for an individual for any year is July 31st. However, due to the recent onslaught of COVID-19 and how it has affected every major industry, the GoI extended the last date of filing for tax returns for the year of 2020-2021 to November 30th, and further extended to December 31st later on.

Despite all that, if you still manage to miss the deadline and haven’t filed your tax returns yet, you can still file a ‘belated return’, albeit after paying a fine. Under Section 139 of the Income Tax Act of 1961, if a person fails to furnish the returns on the income, they’ll be held liable to pay a fine of ₹5000 if they’re filing the returns after the due date and before December 31st of that year and ₹10000 if the filing exceeds the deadline of 31st December.

Under section 234F, a late fee will not be levied if the person is not supposed to file returns but does so anyway in accordance with Section 139.

There is another, quite handy quirk, that states if the income is below a certain threshold – up to ₹2.5 lakh for those under the age of 60, up to ₹3 lakh for citizens between the ages of 60-80 and ₹5 lakh for citizens above the age of 60, that person is not supposed to file their tax returns. If they choose to voluntarily file for tax returns after the due date, they are not liable to any fines that are associated with belated returns.

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