No proposal to extend last date for filing I-T returns, says finance ministry

The deadline for ITR filing ends today after being extended for five months till December 31.

The Union finance ministry said on Friday there is no proposal to extend the due date for income tax return (ITR) filing. The last date to file for income tax return is today, December 31, 2021.

India has 7.4 crore-odd tax-payers. By 3pm today, 5.62 crore returns had been filed in total.(HT file)

“By 3pm today, 5.62 crore returns had been filed in total. Today, more than 20 lakh returns were filed. This year, 60 lakh more returns have been filed,” said revenue secretary Tarun Bajaj while making the announcement.

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The statement comes in response to speculations that the tax deadline could be extended once again for the financial year ending March 2021, following a letter by domestic traders body Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) earlier this week.

The deadline for ITR filing was earlier extended for five months till December 31.

Meanwhile, responding to questions on the ongoing tax raids, Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that when law enforcing agencies conduct search operations, they go only with actionable intelligence.

"How does Uttar Pradesh's former chief minister (Akhilesh Yadav) know that this is BJP's money? Is he the partner? Is he scared," Sitharaman said on the sidelines of a press conference of the GST council meeting.

Earlier in the day, the Income Tax department raided multiple premises linked to certain perfume traders in Uttar Pradesh, including Samajwadi Party MLC Pushparaj Jain, in Kannauj.

Searches are being conducted in Kannauj, Kanpur, NCR, Surat, Mumbai among a total of 30-40 premises, officials said.