New Delhi, Aug 31 (IANS): Over five crore income-tax returns have been filed ahead of the extended August 31 deadline this year, officials said on Friday.

While over three crore returns were filed during the corresponding period last year, the figure has already crossed the five crore mark till August 30.

The number still falls short of the total 6.84 crore income tax returns filed during the whole Financial Year 2017-18 till March 31.

The present surge, analysts said, could be because of the penalty clause introduced from assessment year (AY) 2018-19 under which filing returns after the August 31 deadline will attract a penalty of up to Rs 10,000.

With the end of the deadline on Aug 31, return filing till December 31 will attract a penalty of Rs.5,000 which will double in cases of filing done till March 31, 2019. However, if the total income is upto Rs. 5 lakh, then the maximum penalty is only Rs. 1,000.

The official said since the deadline is the midnight of August 31, the figure is expected to rise further as many people file their returns till the last moment and even later.

The deadline for filing the returns was extended last month for salaried individuals and those with business or professional income not requiring an audit to August 31 from July 31.