The deadline for filing of tax return for AY 2015-16 is August 31, 2015. But what if you do not file your income tax return
(ITR) by due date? Can I-T department penalize you?
The good news is there is no penalty if you miss
the August 31 deadline but file your ITR by March 31, 2016. But you loose on some benefits (discussed later).
In case you miss that deadline too, you still can file your return
till March 31, 2017 but in this case
the I-T department can ask for penalty of Rs 5,000 after giving you chance to
explain your reason for not filing. Though the late filing penalty is rare in
case you have no tax dues but still it depends on your accessing officer.
What if you don’t file AY 2015-16 return even by March 31, 2017?
In case you miss the March 31, 2017 deadline
then you would not be able to file your returns without I-T Department
intervention. Also, the tax officer has to do your tax assessment based on best
information he has resulting in increased tax liability.
Impact
of late filing of tax return:
Here is a list of benefits you miss on in case you skip the
August 31 deadline:
1.
1% Monthly Late payment fee on tax due: In case after adding up all the TDS and advance taxes, if there
is any tax payable from your side, you will need to pay monthly 1% late fee on
the amount due for each month of delay.
2.
Late refund: if you file your ITR
late, you will also get your excess tax paid refunded late. This is a loss as
you could have put to the money to better use and you obviously loose on the
interest part.
3.
Cannot revise your ITR: You cannot file a revised return in case you filed your original
ITR late. This can be a major drawback if you find some error on a later date
or just forgot to take advantage of some tax exemption.
4.
Cannot carry forward your losses: you cannot carry forward following losses in case of delayed
filing:
1.
Speculation loss,
2.
business loss excluding loss due
to un-absorbed depreciation and capital exp on scientific research,
3.
short term capital loss,
4.
long term capital loss,
5.
loss due to owning and
maintenance of horse races
However you can still carry forward loss from House property.
The above list is not comprehensive and may impact you the wrong way in case of
late filing of tax returns.
So if you have not filed your return yet do it
before August 31, 2015 deadline.
