Since many people who were affected because of covid-19 were facing problems, the government on Thursday evening has extended the date for filing income tax returns by individuals for the financial year 2021.
Usually, the last date for the same is 31st July, but due to the ongoing pandemic, this year the date was extended to 30th September. Not just the pandemic reason but since most work is being done online, many people were also facing technical glitches.
“On consideration of difficulties reported by the taxpayers and other stakeholders in the filing of Income Tax Returns and various reports of audit for the Assessment Year 2021-22 under the Income-tax Act, 1961, Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has decided to further extend the due dates for filing of Income Tax Returns and various reports of audit for the Assessment Year 2021-22,” the finance ministry said in a statement.
Regarding the glitches that people are facing on the tax portal, the Finance Ministry on September 8 said that they are continuously in contact with Infosys to ensure that a smooth filing experience takes place for the taxpayers.
“The due date of furnishing of Return of Income for the Assessment Year 2021-22, which is 31st October 2021 under sub-section (1) of section 139 of the Act, as extended to 30th November 2021 vide Circular No.9/2021 dated 20.05.2021, is hereby further extended to 15th February 2022,” the ministry said.
For filing a belated or revised return of income, the last date is now March 31, 2022, which has been extended by another two months. For 2020-21 fiscal, the government had given taxpayers the option to choose a new tax regime under section 115BAC of the I-T Act.
This would reduce the problem to a good extent keeping in mind the huge population of India. Having so many people do the same thing of filing their returns always causes glitches. And at the same time, when this work is being done offline, then also overcrowding is not preferred now. So the extended date is hence beneficial as people would now get time to get their work done separately.
So far, nearly 1.2 crore returns for the last financial year have been filed, with over 76.2 lakh taxpayers using the new portal’s online utility for the purpose, the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) said.
The government is constantly working hard to make sure that the taxpayers have a smooth experience.
