About 5.4 million returns filed till 8 pm on last day

CHENNAI: Nearly 54 lakh income tax returns were filed till 8 PM on the last day of filing ITR for 2021-22 fiscal by salaried individuals, the I-T department said on Sunday.

The deadline for filing I-T returns, by those taxpayers who do not have to get their accounts audited for the fiscal ended on March 31, 2022, is Sunday.

Till July 30, more than 5.10 crore tax returns had been filed. Giving statistics of Income Tax Returns (ITR) filed on Sunday, the I-T department tweeted: “53,98,348 #ITRs have been filed up to 2000 hours today & 4,95,505 #ITRs filed in the last 1hr.”

Last fiscal (2020-21), about 5.89 crore ITRs were filed by the extended due date of December 31, 2021.

Over the month, the I-T department has been nudging taxpayers to file their ITRs for 2021-22 fiscal to avoid levy of late fees. The I-T department also asked taxpayers to seek assistance regarding ITR filing by emailing to orm@cpc.incometax.gov.in’ or calling help desk numbers 1800 103 0025 and 1800 419 0025.

According to tax laws, a late fee of Rs 5,000 would be payable by people having an annual income of over Rs 5 lakh, if they file their ITR by December 31 of the assessment year. Individuals with an annual income below Rs 5 lakh will be liable for a late fee of Rs 1,000 for delayed return filing.

Additionally, those having outstanding unpaid tax will have to shell out an additional 1 per cent interest per month for delayed filing.

The late fee will not apply to those taxpayers whose income is below the taxable limit.