New Delhi, Jul 26 (ET): The finance ministry in a tweet has announced the extension of income tax return (ITR) filing deadline by a month to August 31. The tweet says "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."

Until last assessment year (AY) there was no penalty for filing belated income tax returns. However, this penalty is applicable from AY 2018-19. A new section 234F was inserted by the government in the Income Tax Act. As per this section, an individual would have to pay a fee of up to Rs 10,000 for filing income tax return after the due dates specified in section 139(1) of the Act.

Tax experts say that as per the amendments made in the Finance Act 2017, taxpayers are liable to pay a fee of Rs 5,000, if their tax return for the financial year 2017-18 is filed after the return filing deadline (i.e., July 31, 2018) but before December 31, 2018. The fee payable will increase to Rs 10,000, if the tax return is filed on or after January 1, 2019. However, if the total income of the taxpayer is less than Rs 5,00,000, the fee amount shall not exceed Rs 1,000.