As per data available on the Income Tax website, around 3.73 crore Income tax returns have been filed so far for the financial year 2021-22. Many chartered accountants and tax professionals have demanded that the last date for filing the return be extended this year also. They say that the returns submitted so far are on the lesser side.
There have been huge problems with the Income tax department website and the online software last year. The newly appointed software vendor Infosys came under heavy flake for the innumerable glitches encountered in the software. The issue heated up so much that Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman summoned Infosys CEO to her office.
Due to Covid and also due to technical problems, the due date for return filing was extended consecutively for two years. However, the Income tax department has said that software provider Infosys is taking “proactive measures” to deal with the ‘irregular traffic’ on the portal these days. it is expected that the portal witnesses exponential traffic during the last days leading to the last date of filing.
The ITR filing deadline for Individual taxpayers, such as salaried and HUF etc who are not subjected to any Tax Audit for the financial year 2021-22 is 31st July 2022. The financial year is a period of 12 months starting from 1st April to 31st March. The year in which the return is filed is called the assessment year. In this context, the financial year for which the income tax return is filed is called the Previous year too.
The government not extending the deadline would be a validation of the sort for the newly inducted Infosys software that it has finally been integrated properly.
The government has not provided any hint that the date may be extended. In any way, it is always better to file the return on time. If not, one ends up paying a penalty, 11% interest on tax liability, loses the right to carry forward losses and in case of refunds, it is delayed.
Also Read: Union Govt Implements New Income Tax Rules In Q2 FY23