Missed ITR filing? You could pay a penalty | Economic Times

The income tax return (ITR) filing deadline for the financial year (FY) 2019-20 has been extended to November 30, 2020. What this means is that if you file your tax return on or after December 1, 2020, then you will have to pay a late fee of up to Rs 10,000. However, if your income is below the taxable limit then you will not have to pay the penalty even if you file after the deadline as per the chartered accountants.Currently, the basic exemption limit for resident individuals below the age of 60 years is Rs 2.5 lakh. For senior citizens aged 60 years and above but below 80 years, income up to Rs 3 lakh is exempted from tax. For super senior citizens 80 years and above, the basic exemption limit is up to Rs 5 lakh.However, there is an exception to this rule. Amendments were made in the Income-tax Act, 1961 via Budget 2019 effective from financial year 2019-20 or assessment year 2020-21 onward, where it was made mandatory for a certain section of individuals to file ITR even if their gross total income does not exceed the basic exemption limit. Chartered accountant Naveen Wadhwa, DGM, Taxmann.com says, "There are certain categories of taxpayers who are mandatorily required to file ITR even if their gross total income is below the basic exemption limit. In such cases, late filing fees would be levied if the ITR is filed after the expiry of the deadline (i.e., November 30, 2020)." Here is a look at the instances where late filing fees will be applicable. Mandatorily filing of ITR The following people must file ITR mandatorily before November 30, 2020, even if their gross total income is below the basic exemption limit to avoid late filing fees:a) Individuals who have deposited an amount or aggregate of amounts exceeding Rs 1 crore in one or more current accounts maintained with a bank or co-operative bank;b) Individuals who have incurred an expenditure of an amount or aggregate of an amount exceeding Rs 2 lakh for himself or any other person for travel to a foreign country;c) Individuals who have paid electricity bill exceeding Rs 1 lakh on a single instance or aggregate basis during the financial year and;d) Ordinarily resident individual having foreign income and/or assets and/or signing authority in any account outside India.e) Further, return filing is mandatory if the gross total income of the individual is more than the maximum exemption limit before claiming exemption from capital gain tax under sections 54, 54B, 54D, 54EC, 54F, 54G, 54GA, or 54GB. These sections of the Income-tax Act provide tax-exemptions on capital gains made during the year. For instance, section 54 provides tax-exemption on long-term capital gains made on the sale of a house, confirms Wadhwa. Penalty that will be leviedAs per section 234F of the Income-tax Act, a late filing fee will be levied in case of belated filing of ITR. The amount that will have to be paid is as follows:Rs 5,000: if the ITR is filed after the expiry of ITR deadline, i.e., November 30, 2020, but before December 31, 2020.Rs 10,000: if the ITR is filed between January 1, 2021, and March 31, 2021.Rs 1,000: If the total income does not exceed Rs 5 lakh. Wadhwa says, "In the above scenarios as the individuals gross total income does not exceed basic exemption limit i.e. Rs 2.5 lakh or Rs 3 lakh or Rs 5 lakh as the case may, therefore, a penalty of Rs 1,000 will be required to pay in case of belated ITR filing. "