Made a mistake while filing tax returns? Here’s how you can fix it

While filing these returns, there is always the possibility of an unintentional or arithmetic error or an omission of details creeping into the return.

Income Tax News : Every individual whose income exceeds the basic exemption limit of Rs 250,000 must file an income tax return. This limit is Rs 300,000 for those who are older than 60 years but less than 80 years, and Rs 500,000 for those who are more than 80 years old.

While filing these returns, there is always the possibility of an unintentional or arithmetic error or an omission of details creeping into the return. This could be because of lack of taxpayer’s knowledge in tax laws or can be attributed to insufficient information while filing the return.

In such a case, does the income tax law provide for correction of such mistakes? Yes, Income tax law does have a provision for correcting or rectifying such errors. This can be done by filing a revised return.

Revising the return of income

As per the law as it stands today, from the Assessment Year (AY) 2018-19, a return of income filed within the due date i.e. the original return of income (generally 31 July for individuals) or a return filed after the due date called the belated return, can be revised if a taxpayer discovers any omission or wrong statement in the return filed. Such revision has to be done before the end of the assessment year for which return was filed. For example, if a revision is required to be done for a return filed for Assessment Year 2018-19, such revision can be done anytime on or before 31 March 2019.

However, for returns filed prior to AY 2018-19, one has a time limit of 1 whole year form the end of an AY to file a revised return i.e for AY 2017-18 and prior years, a revised return could be filed anytime on or before 31 March 2019.

Another significant point to be noted is that the facility to revise a return filed late(belated return), is available only from AY 2017-18 onwards prior to which this was not possible.

→ Filing Tax Returns Mistake ←

One nation, one tax: Nearly 3 million GST returns filed in August

Almost half came on final day; Network chief says system stood up to huge test and all glitches would be soon resolved

 

 

As many as 2.97 million assessees have filed the summary input-output return under the new goods and services tax (GST) for the month of August (‘GSTR 3B’), much less than the 4.6 million that came for the month of July.

As many as 46 per cent of filers — 1.37 million — submitted Income tax return on Wednesday, the deadline for doing so.

However, the July returns had risen after an extension of five to eight days was given to assessees, depending on whether they wanted to claim input tax credit for pre-GST stocks or not. The GST Network (GSTN), the entity handling the information technology backbone for the new structure, is hopeful that return filing would equal the tally of July.

→ Income Tax Filing ←  → Income Tax efiling ←

Even if the same number of filers are there for the month of August as in July, proportionately it would be much less. This is so because there were only 5.95 million registrations under the GST in July, excluding those opting for the composition scheme. Now, a little over nine million businesses have registered under the GST. Of this, around one million was for the composition scheme; these may file quarterly returns.

Taxes to the tune of Rs 95,000 crore were collected in the maiden month of the roll-out. The central GST (CGST) and state GST (SGST) laws mandate an interest levy at 18 per cent for delayed payment of tax. And, Rs 100 a day will be levied for... Read Full Article

All eyes on black money: I-T even looking into FY11 cash deposits, realty purchases

I-T dept may order reassessment if no response is given or the response is found to be unsatisfactory

 

Cash deposits made even before the Modi government's demonetisation drive that began in November last year are under the income tax (I-T) department's scanner, reported the Economic Times on Thursday.

According to the financial daily, income tax efiling sleuths have gone as far back as financial year 2011 in their hunt for suspicious cash deposits and sought explanations from the depositors in question. Further, the I-T department has sent notices to home buyers where the declared value of the purchase was found to be lower than the prices that prevailed in past transactions in that area.

In fact, according to the financial daily, income tax filing authorities have classified cases from FY11 as high priority since they would become time-barred soon. In case the tax sleuths don't receive a response regarding the cash deposits under their scanner or the response is not found to be satisfactory, they can order a reassessment.

According to the report, the I-T department has asked individuals and entities involved in the transactions in question to provide their permanent account numbers and the returns they filed for the financial year in question. → Efiling of Income Tax ←

The move comes at a time when the I-T department is moving ahead with concluding investigations into high-risk category individuals suspected of evading taxes. In an interview with Livemint, Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) Chairman Sushil Chandra said that his department would conclude its investigations into the financial dealings of close to 100,000 individuals who were suspected of tax evasion... Read Full Article

Rs 2.89 lakh cr deposited post note ban by 0.97 mn people under I-T radar

I-T says 14,000 properties of over Rs 1 crore each under scrutiny as owners have not filed returns

 

 

The Income Tax Department (ITD) today said that about 14,000 properties worth over Rs 1 crore each are under its scrutiny as their owners have not filed income returns.

Using data analytics, 13.33 lakh accounts of some 9.72 lakh persons with unusual cash deposits of around Rs 2.89 lakh crore was identified and response sought.

The resource was captured "within a short span of 3-4 weeks," the statement said, without saying how many of them were genuine deposits and how many were unaccounted money. → Income Tax Filing ←

It also did not give details of tax collected on unaccounted money.

The Operation Clean money has since moved into the next phase that "includes enforcement actions in high risk cases, taxpayer engagement through a dedicated website in medium risk cases and close monitoring in low risk cases.

"The exercise has also unearthed large number of persons and clusters having suspect transactions. These include about 14,000 properties of more than Rs 1 crore each where persons have not even filed Income Tax Return.

"The investigations are in progress," the statement said.

The high, medium and low risk cases have been identified through the use of advanced data analytics, including integration of data sources, relationship clustering and fund tracking.... Read Full Article

Aadhaar deadline for social benefits to be extended till Dec 31

Supreme Court will hear batch of petitions in Aadhaar-related matters in the first week of November

 

 

The Centre on Wednesday told the Supreme Court that they would extend till December 31, the deadline to furnish Aadhaar for availing the benefits of various social welfare schemes.

Attorney General K K Venugopal made the submission that the current deadline of September 30 has been shifted to December-end after some of the petitioners, who have challenged the government’s move to make Aadhaar mandatory for availing the benefits of these schemes, mentioned the matter before the court.

Senior advocate Shyam Divan, appearing for petitioners, told the apex court that a nine-judge constitution bench had recently declared right to privacy a fundamental right and now a batch of Aadhaar related petitions should be taken up for hearing by an appropriate bench.

When he referred to the September 30 deadline to give Aadhaar for availing these benefits, the Attorney General said the government would extend it to December 31.

“We (Centre) have said we will extend it to December 31,” Venugopal told the bench which also comprised Justices Amitava Roy and A M Khanwilkar.

The bench thereafter said that the batch of petitions on the Aadhaar issue would be taken up for hearing in the first week of November.

“Urgency is not there. The Attorney General is saying that it will be extended. It (petitions) will be listed in the first week of November,” the bench said.... Read Full Article

Last day to link PAN-Aadhaar? Decision on extending deadline today

The Aadhaar matter is before the Supreme Court with next date of hearing posted for November

 

 

The finance ministry is likely to decide tomorrow on whether to extend till year-end the deadline for linking PAN with biometric identifier Aadhaar, a source said on Wednesday.
The cut-off ends tomorrow. → Efiling Of Income Tax ←

The Aadhaar matter is before the Supreme Court with next date of hearing posted for November, and the deadline for Aadhaar linking for availing of social sector schemes has been extended till December-end.

"The government will decide tomorrow if the deadline for PAN-Aadhaar linking will be extended," the source said.

Section 139 AA (2) of the Income Tax Filing Act says every person with PAN as on July 1, 2017, and is eligible to obtain Aadhaar must intimate his Aadhaar number to tax authorities.

However, those categorised as non-resident Indians as per income tax laws, people who are not citizens of India, those above 80 years of age and residents of Assam, Meghalaya and Jammu and Kashmir had been exempt from the requirement.

The tax department had on July 31 stated that "unless a finding is made that Aadhaar is constitutionally not valid, tax return filers will need to link their PAN with Aadhaar by August 31, 2017".

Incidentally, December 31is also the deadline for people to link their bank accounts with Aadhaar. Tax filers however were allowed to file their annual income returns by August 5 without linking their Aadhaar with PAN. They were to just quote Aadhaar or acknowledgement number for ..... Read Full Article

99% of banned notes returned after demonetisation

RBI annual report says Rs 15.28 lakh cr of the junked currency came back, leaving only Rs 16,050 cr

 

 

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Wednesday said it estimated that people had returned almost 99 per cent of the scrapped Rs 1,000 and Rs 500 notes after demonetisation, effectively putting a question mark over the government gaining handsomely by the unreturned money turning into a special dividend by the central bank.  → Income Tax Efiling ←

In its annual report, the RBI also said the face value of fake high-value notes was minuscule at Rs 41 crore.

The central bank said people had returned Rs 15.28 lakh crore of the Rs 15.44 lakh banned currency, or 98.96 per cent of the scrapped Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes, to the banking system.  → IT Return ←

“Subject to future corrections based on the verification process when completed, the estimated value of Specified Bank Notes received as on June 30, 2017, is Rs 15.28 lakh crore,” the annual report said.
The old notes came to the RBI either directly or from bank branches and post offices through the currency chest mechanism. → Tax Filing ←

Some of these notes were still lying in currency chests, the RBI said, adding it could only estimate the value of the notes and could not provide an accurate figure.

The RBI data showed the unreturned Rs 1,000 notes in March 2017 amounted to Rs 8,900 crore. The segregation of old and new Rs 500 notes were not that clear. The RBI incurred a cost of Rs 7,965 crore in printing notes in .... Read Full Article

Over 1.9 million file GST returns

GSTN hopes number will double by deadline

 

As many as 19,42,354 taxpayers have till Wednesday filed IT return for July under the new goods and services tax (GST) regime. Officers of the GST Network (GSTN), responsible for the information technology (IT) backbone of the GST, said they hoped 2.8 million more would do so by the deadline in the next two days.

Those who have filed returns constitute over 22 per cent of total assessees (8.7 million) under the GST regime. However, of the 8.7 million assessees, 2.2 million are yet to complete the migration process to the new indirect income tax regime.

The GSTN, also managing the tax filing apparatus, has geared up the income tax return network to handle the rush, its Chairman Navin Kumar said. A last-minute rush caused the GSTN portal to crash last week, forcing the government to extend the deadline by five days to August 25.

Those who wish to claim transitional input tax credit can file returns by August 28.

Sudhir Singh, MD of Marg ERP, a solution provider for GST returns, said over 1.9 million filers was not really a big number, but the numbers would swell by the deadline. He added that his clients were finding it difficult to file returns....Read Full Article

No escape for firms as tax information pours in from other countries

India has tax information exchange agreements with 130 countries 

Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) Chairman Sushil Chandra on Wednesday said that the tax exchange agreements with other countries was resulting in information pouring in at a fast pace, thus there was no escaping for the multi-national companies (MNCs) from fair tax filing.

"We have got wide (tax) information from countries. We have agreements with 130 countries. It's like a global hub. Information on tax transparency is coming at a fast pace. It is a thing of past that any information can be hidden," Chandra said here at the 14th International Tax Conference organised by Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (Assocham).

"Each company/MNC thus should believe in fair taxation," he added.

Referring to the Panama Papers disclosures, he said that the information has been received on it from various countries. → Income tax Filing ←

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley earlier had said that in some cases of Panama Papers details have been received and criminal proceedings will be carried out.

"In cases of which we are receiving details, we send notices, assess their income tax filing details and raise tax demand. According to the law, criminal proceedings are also carried out. In HSBC and now in Panama Papers, the proceedings will be carried out. In some cases details are received. It is now a disincentive and a risky business," Jaitley had said in the Lok Sabha on ..... Read Full Article

I-T dept may lower withholding tax for foreign firms having income in India

They are required to withhold taxes on payment to another party and deposit that tax with the govt

 

The income tax department is open to lowering the withholding tax rate for foreign companies which have income in India, a senior official said on Wednesday.

Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) Chairman Sushil Chandra also urged firms and MNCs operating in India to pay their due share of taxes and said adequate safeguards have been put in place to ensure that anti-abuse provisions like GAAR are not misused.

He also asked industry experts to come forward with suggestions on withholding tax. →Efiling Of Income Tax ←

"I would like to be informed in which areas the TDS (tax deducted at source) is high so that we can think of reducing that also. We are absolutely open to any suggestions which can make the life of a genuine taxpayer easy," he said speaking at an International Tax Conference organised by Assocham here.

Foreign entities having income in India, as well as domestic companies, are required to withhold taxes on any payment to another party and deposit that tax with the government. Companies usually have to withhold taxes interest, royalties or fees paid for technical services.

Assocham Chairman National Council on Direct Taxes Rahul Garg said the tax department issues refunds to the tune of Rs 40,000-60,000 crore every year and hence the industry chamber has suggested a relook of the withholding tax scenario .....Read Full Article

Shah Rukh Khan gets tax relief on Dubai villa

Tribunal upholds actor's claim that it was gift

 

 

A Dubai villa owned by Shah Rukh Khan was out of the tax ambit, the Income Tax Filing Appellate Tribunal (I-TAT) has ruled.

Called Signature Villa, the property was gifted to him by Nakheel Public Joint Stock Company. The dispute was over whether this was a gift or payment for services Khan had rendered to the company.
Since the villa was gifted in the assessment year (AY) 2008-09, it was tax free, ruled the I-TAT. The I-T Act was amended in October 2009 to include any gift valued more than a certain amount to be taxable.

An I-T officer assessing Khan’s 2008-09 income had revised it to Rs 144.17 crore against Rs 126.31 crore declared by him. The difference of Rs 17.9 crore was the value of the villa.

The assessing officer had contended the value of the property was the “professional receipts” taxable under Section 28 (iv) of the Efiling Of Income tax Act, 1961.

Khan, in a letter on November 11, 2010, denied rendering any professional services to Nakheel PJSC. He said Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem, a senior executive of the company and his friend, had gifted him the villa. Khan also said there was no contractual agreement.

The assessing officer had argued that a major source of Khan’s income was endorsing products and performing in stage shows. In 2008-09, the actor had charged Rs 6.5-8 crore for each endorsement. He said the Nakheel PJSC was using the actor’s image to endorse its Palm Project since 2004 on its official website and other media.

Khan had visited the project in 2004 and 2005, and had taken part in an annual day celebration there in 2007, said the ... Read Full Article

IT says no inconsistency in estimates of taxpayers after demonetisation

Clarification comes after there was a mismatch in figures shared by PM Modi and Eco Survey-II

 

 

The income tax filing department on Friday put to rest the controversy over the so-called inconsistency in the estimates of the number of taxpayers added after demonetisation.

The inconsistency was reported because Prime Minister Narendra Modi mentioned in his Independence Day speech that an additional 5.6 million people filed personal income tax returns from April 1 to August 5 in 2017, as compared to 2.2 million people in the same period last year.

Earlier, Volume 2 of the Economic Survey mentioned that around 5,40,000 new taxpayers were added post-demonetisation. Also, the country's finance minister, Arun Jaitley, had stated in May that around 9.1 million taxpayers have been added to the tax net as a result of action taken by the Income Tax Department. → Efiling of Income Tax ←

Moreover, in a reply to an unstarred question in the Rajya Sabha earlier this month, it was stated that around 33,00,000 new taxpayers have been added to the tax net following the Centre's demonetisation drive.

In a statement, the department clarified that there is no inconsistency in the data provided by the government in these statements as these are in different contexts and for different time periods.

It said the Prime Minister's speech referred to the increase in the number of e-filed personal income tax returns (ITRs) that were filed between April 1 and August 5, this year over the ITRs filed in the corresponding period of earlier years...Read Full Article

10,000 property deals under I-T scanner

The tax dept is expected to launch Project Insight next month to make evasion even tougher

 

 

The income tax department has identified over 10,000 individuals who have bought properties but have not paid tax.

Part of the second round of Operation Clean Money, the tax department is examining property transactions worth over Rs 1 crore. The department has roped in four global data mining companies to profile taxpayers and map their transactions.

“We have identified cases where people have bought property but have not paid taxes. These cases are across the country. More than 10,000 people have come under scrutiny,” said a tax official. → Income tax efiling ←

The department is also investigating if these properties are benami holdings. The government has identified cases based on the income declared by individuals.

“We are following a non-intrusive approach, relying solely on the data mined. Notices have been sent out. Many firms and companies have also been identified, taking the number of cases higher than 10,000,” the official added.

The probe will be widened to examine property transactions of less than Rs 1 crore.

By next month, the tax filing department is expected to launch Project Insight in collaboration with L&T infotech, which will make evasion even tougher. It will collate information from various sources and profile people using their PAN details....Read Full Article

More shell firms found: PAN deactivation jolt for tax evaders in stock market

High-value transactions of more than Rs 50,000 and above require PAN details

 

 

Of the 1.1 million permanent account numbers (PAN) that the government deactivated last month, income-tax (IT return) sources say a majority were duplicates and were being used to open share-trading and demat accounts, transact on the stock markets, and operate in shell firms.

The I-T department has discovered one individual could have five to seven PAN cards, each with a slightly different spelling of the holder’s name.

According to I-T officials, such people, who have been identified as small- and medium-sized stock brokers, sub-brokers and their clients, have evaded taxes.

They could have evaded so by using one card for filing income tax return, and others for investing in financial instruments or making high-value transactions, said a senior tax official.

High-value transactions of more than Rs 50,000 and above require PAN details. During demonetisation, PAN was required to be quoted in the case of cash deposits of more than Rs 2 lakh in savings accounts.

Sources said that the income tax department had used data analytics to track down evaders by collecting information such as common addresses, mobile numbers, and emails to establish the relationship among multiple PANs.

The exercise is continuing since demonetisation, at the time of which the department matched the databases of third parties such as banks and financial institutions with its own database and other details like know your customer (KYC), tax deducted at source (TDS), and payments made overseas. This is how it got a comprehensive profile of taxpayers.

A senior tax official said the department identified the link between PAN holders through their business associations, assets and associated transactions, and compliance history in the various databases....Read Full Article

Soon, I-T dept to file criminal prosecution against Lalu's family members

Prosecution to be in connection with I-T dept's probe into land deals worth Rs 1,000 crore

The Income Tax (I-T) Department will soon file a prosecution complaint against some family members of Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad, including his daughter Misa Bharti, in connection with its probe into land deals worth Rs 1,000 crore, officials privy to the investigation said.

 

They said the agency will file the complaint in a competent court against at least six family members of Lalu, against whom it recently slapped charges under the new and stringent anti-benami assets act.
Some of them, including Bharti and her husband Shailesh, may also be summoned again for further questioning in the case, they said.

The Tax filing department had served notices of attachment of assets in June to Lalu, his wife and former Bihar chief minister Rabri Devi, son and former Bihar Deputy CM Tejashwi Yadav, daughters Chanda and Ragini Yadav, MP daughter Bharti and son-in-law Kumar.

The Income tax filing department had attached about a dozen plots and buildings in Delhi and Bihar including a farm house and land in the Palam Vihar area, a residential building in the upmarket New Friends Colony area of south Delhi, nine plots on a 256.75 decimal land area in Phulwari Sharif area in Patna, where a shopping mall was being constructed, among few others in the same area in Bihar's capital.

The department has said these alleged benami assets bear a "deed" value of about Rs 9.32 crore but the taxman has estimated their current market value at Rs 170-180 crore...Read Full Article

Rs 13,715 cr undisclosed income detected, 126 bn taxpayers added in FY17

After demonetisation, the taxman launched Operation Clean Money to clamp down on unaccounted money

 

 

The income tax department detected undisclosed income of Rs 13,715 crore through surveys in 2016 -17, Minister of State for Finance Santosh Gangwar said on Tuesday.

Also, as many as 126 billion new taxpayers were added in the last financial year, he said in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha.

Last financial year, the income tax department conducted searches at 5,102 premises of 1,152 groups during which undisclosed income of Rs 15,496 crore was admitted.

"During the same period, 12,526 surveys led to the detection of undisclosed income of Rs 13,715 crore," Gangwar said.

He said a total of 196 billion income tax returns were filed between November 9, 2016, to March 31, 2017, compared with 163 billion returns filed during the same period of 2015- 16.

In a separate reply, Gangwar said that during phase one of 'Operation Clean Money' launched on January 31, about 18,00,000 persons were identified whose cash transactions did not match their tax profiles.

More than 9.27 lakh responses were received giving information on 13,33,000 accounts, involving cash deposits of around Rs 2.89 lakh crore, he said.

To fight the menace of black money, the government had on November 8, 2016, demonetised old 500 and 1,000 rupee notes and asked holders of such notes to deposit the same in bank accounts.....Read Full Article

Get ready to file first returns before Aug 20: GST chief tells companies

Navin Kumar said, 'We are working on the assumption that 50% of the people will come on last day'

 

 

Millions of companies in India are still not ready to file their first IT return under the new Goods and Services Tax (GST) ahead of 20 August deadline, a top official told Reuters, urging them not to leave things to the eleventh hour.

Navin Kumar, chairman of the GST Network, also said barely half of the 34 service providers accredited to help firms bulk-file invoices online had received approval to go live.

Yet he gave an assurance that the huge IT back end that is designed to crunch up to 3 billion invoices a month and calculate companies' taxes would be stable, even if there is a last-minute rush to file. → Efiling Of Income Tax  ←

"It will not crash," he told Reuters in an interview. "We are working on the assumption that 50 per cent of the people will come on the last day."

Billed as India's biggest-ever tax reform, the GST has replaced a slew of federal and state levies. It has also cleared barriers between India's 29 states, uniting its 1.3 billion people into a common market for the first time.   → Income Tax Efiling ←

Yet the complexity of the tax - which has main rates of 5, 12, 18 and 28 per cent and multiple exceptions - has raised concerns that companies will struggle to comply and file their monthly returns on time.

Even before the GST filings kick in, business surveys showed both the services and manufacturing sectors contracting at their fastest rate in years, heralding a likely dip in indirect tax revenues.......Read Full Article

Over 93 million PAN cards linked with Aadhaar so far; last date is Aug 31

About 3 crore linkages were done in June and July

 

 

More than 9.3 crore Permanent Account Numbers (PAN) have been linked with Aadhaar, a senior Income Tax Department officer said.

Of the total PAN-Aadhaar seeding, which is nearly 30 per cent of the total about 30 crore PAN holders, about three crore linkages were done in June and July.

"By August 5, which was the last date for filing Income Tax Returns (ITRs), over 9.3 PAN-Aadhaar linkages have been registered by the I-T department," he said...→ Tax Filing ←

According to the officer, the tally is expected to grow as the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT), the policy-making body of the department, has already extended the last date for linking the two unique numbers till August 31.

The government had madethe PAN-Aadhaar linking mandatory for filing ITR and obtaining a new Permanent Account Number (PAN) from July 1.

The CBDT has said that for the purpose of income tax filing of returns (by August 5), it would be sufficient to quote Aadhaar or acknowledgement number of having applied for Aadhaar, on the e-filing website of the department.

"The actual linking of PAN with Aadhaar can be done subsequently, but any time before August 31, 2017," the CBDT had said.

It had also cautioned taxpayers that ITRs would not be processed "until the linkage of Aadhaar with PAN is done".... Read Full Article

Aadhaar now mandatory to identify deceased while registering death

The new rule is said to be applicable starting October 1, 2017.

 

 

According to the latest guidelines, the families of a deceased will now have to produce his/her Aadhaar number for establishing his/her identity in order to register the death and proceed with the norms to obtain a death certificate.

The new rule is said to be applicable starting October 1, 2017.

On June 10, the Supreme Court had ruled that from July 1 onward, every person eligible to obtain Aadhaar card must quote their Aadhaar number or their Aadhaar Enrolment ID number for filing of Income Tax Returns as well as for applications for Permanent Account Number (PAN).

Following this, the apex court pronounced its order on mandatory requirements of Aadhaar card for Income Tax Return (I-TR).

The Income Tax Department has stepped up its efforts to encourage people to link their PAN with Aadhaar.

On July 12, the top court decided to constitute a five-judge bench to hear whether there is a right to privacy or not.  → Tax Filing ←

The matter was mentioned before a bench comprising of Chief Justice J.S. Khehar and Justice D.Y. Chandrachud, which said its five-judge Constitution Bench will hear Aadhaar-related matters.....Read Full Article

Missed the ITR deadline? Here's what you need to do next

Filing returns after the due date can have repercussions even if there are no pending liabilities

Income Tax Filing (I-T) returns on time is every taxpayer’s responsibility and there are several benefits extended to the individual for the same. On the other hand, filing returns after the due date can have repercussions for the taxpayer even if there are no pending tax liabilities. However, if you have missed the deadline, you can file a belated return.

 

What is a belated return?

A belated IT return can be filed after the due date but before the end of the assessment year. Belated returns have to be filed within one year from the end of the relevant financial year. Hence, if you need to file your return for financial year 2015-16, the assessment year will be 2016-17 and the belated return can be filed by March 31, 2017. Similarly, if you must file your return for financial year 2016-17, you must do so by March 31, 2018 — the end of assessment year 2017-18.

The procedure to file a belated return is the same as Income tax efiling the return within the due date. Log into your e-filing account on the I-T department’s website, select the applicable ITR form and assessment year, and proceed. For example, if you are filing the return for financial year 2015-16, select assessment year 2016-17.

Consequences of filing late returns