ITR filing deadline extended for 'certain categories' of taxpayers
What's the story
In a tweet, the Finance Ministry has announced that the deadline for the filing of Income Tax returns has been extended by a month to August 31, 2018, albeit only for certain categories of taxpayers. Apart from the said categories, the rest of eligible taxpayers will have to file their ITRs by July 31. Funnily enough, the "categories" have not been specified, till now.
Twitter Post
The Finance Ministry's tweet announcing the extension
Upon consideration of the matter, the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) extends the ‘Due Date’ for filing of Income Tax Returns from 31st July, 2018 to 31st August, 2018 in respect of the said categories of taxpayers.
— Ministry of Finance (@FinMinIndia) July 26, 2018
Information
There are penalties this time, don't miss the deadline
Until last year, there were no penalties for filing ITRs late. However, owing to amendments made in the Finance Act 2017, taxpayers face a Rs. 5,000 penalty for late filing before December 31, 2018, and Rs. 10,000 for filing ITRs beyond January 1, 2019.