The deadline for filing Income Tax Returns is just around the corner. As people rush to file their Income Tax returns for the financial year 2025-26, the ITR department on Saturday announced that over six crore income tax returns have been filed so far.
The deadline of September 15 was announced as an extension granted due to technical errors flagged by Tax professionals.
Earlier, the deadline for filing ITR was July 3,1, which was later extended to September 15 after Tax professionals reported a variety of issues, including portal glitches, data mismatches, delayed forms, and the new ICAI reporting format. Meanwhile, the Indian Taxation Advocates Association has demanded the extension for filing ITR to December 31, citing the existing technical glitches, HT reported.
The association president said that the e-filing portal had been very slow, and errors had occurred while downloading AIS and TDS forms. Further, he said that due to heavy rain in the North and northeastern states, it is difficult to reach the deadline.
Also read: Here's how to file your ITR this year: Read stepwise guide
{{/usCountry}}Also read: Here's how to file your ITR this year: Read stepwise guide
{{/usCountry}}On Saturday, ITR took to their official X account and announced that over 6 crore ITR have been filed as of now. The Income Tax department has been regularly posting informative videos explaining the importance of filing taxes in advance instead of rushing on the last date.
Tax filing has seen an upward trend in the past few years, with 7.28 crore ITRs filed in the assessment year 2024-25, while 6.77 crore ITRs were filed in 2023-24.
If an individual fails to file ITR before the stipulated date of September 15, the tax department imposes a late fee under Section 234F. The penalty depends on the income level. So if someone has income above Rs. 5 lakh, then a fine of 5,000 must be paid. However, no penalty will apply if the income is below the taxable threshold. Further, there might be a loss of carry-forward benefits.
To file an ITR, a user must select a suitable ITR form based on their pay scale and choose the applicable option between the new and old tax regimes. If a person is due to receive a refund and is filing after the deadline, the refund process might slow down further.