How to avoid Income Tax Penalty on late filling of ITR

Penalty you will pay for missing ITR filing deadline and who won't have to pay

If you are a small taxpayer whose gross total income does not exceed Rs 5 lakh then the maximum fees you are liable to pay is Rs 1,000.

HIGHLIGHTS

• From this year onwards, a taxpayer is liable to pay late ITR filing fees of maximum of Rs 10,000
• CAs are of the view that if a person whose gross total income does not exceed the basic exemption limit files a belated return, he/she will not be liable to pay penalty.

August 31, 2018 (except for the assessee living in Kerala) was the last day to file income tax return (ITR) for FY2017-18 without penalty. If you file your return after midnight i.e. after August 31 then you would have to pay a late fee of upto Rs 10,000. However, if your income is below taxable limit then you won't have to pay it even if you file after the deadline.

The penalty you will have to pay

Explanation

From this year, a taxpayer is liable to pay late ITR filing fees of:

a) Rs 5,000 if tax return is filed after the deadline but on or before December 31 of the relevant assessment year (in this case December 31, 2018).

b) Rs 10,000 if tax return is filed after December 31 but before the end the relevant assessment year, i.e., before March 31 (in this case between 1 January 2019 and March 31, 2019).

If you are a small taxpayer whose gross total income does not exceed Rs 5 lakh then the maximum fees you are liable to pay is Rs 1,000. This law of levying late filing fees under section 234F was introduced in the Budget 2017 and became effective for financial year 2017-18 or assessment year 2018-19 onward. Assessment year is the year immediately following the financial year for which the ITR is filed. The assessment year for the financial year 2017-18 is 2018-19.

Who will not have to pay?

However, chartered accountants are of the view that if a person whose gross total income does not exceed the basic exemption limit files a belated return, he/she will not be liable to pay penalty. Currently, the basic exemption limit for resident individuals below the age of 60 years is Rs 2.5 lakh. For senior citizens aged 60 years and above but below 80 years, income up to Rs 3 lakh is exempted from tax. For super senior citizens i.e. of age 80 years and above, the basic exemption limit is up to Rs 5 lakh.

"There will be no late filing fees to be levied as mentioned under section 234F of the income tax return filed after the deadline if the gross total income does not exceed the basic exemption limit," says Abhishek Soni, CEO, tax2win.in, a tax return filing company.

Clarifying further, Shalini Jain, Tax Partner, People Advisory Services, EY India says, "Section 234F draws reference of persons liable to pay late filing fees for filing belated income tax return from Section 139 of the Income-tax Act. Section 139(1) of the Act states that the following persons have to mandatorily file ITR: (a) a company or a firm/LLP irrespective of quantum of income and (b) any other person only if his total income exceeds the maximum amount not chargeable to tax, i.e., basic exemption limit."

"Gross total income as mentioned in section 139(1) refers to the total income before taking into account the tax exemptions available on the incomes specified under section 10(38) and deductions under section 80C to 80U of the I-T Act," explains Chetan Chandak, Head of Tax Research, H&R Block, India.

Source :- Economic Times

The catch

However, there is a catch. If you are an ordinarily resident individual with income from foreign assets and your taxable income is below the threshold, then you will have to pay the penalty if you don't file ITR before the deadline.

"As per fourth proviso to Section 139(1), if you are a resident individual (other than not ordinarily resident within the meaning of Section 6(6) of the Act), holding any asset (including any financial interest) outside India as a beneficial owner or a beneficiary or have signing authority in any account located outside India, then you are mandatorily required to file income tax return before the due date even if the total income is below the taxable limit. In such cases, if you file your ITR after the deadline, late filing fees would be levied as per provisions of the law," says Jain.

Taxpayers with gross total income less than the basic exemption limit, filing ITR after the due date will be able to claim deductions as available under section 80C to 80U of the I-T Act and/or tax refund, if due, without paying any late fees, adds Soni.

Source :- Economic Times

Illustration

Let us say in a financial year you earned a total income of Rs 1.5 lakh from dividend of shares you hold in a foreign company. In that case, even though your income is below the minimum exemption level of Rs 2.5 lakh, you are still mandatorily required to file ITR.

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