You can now file tax returns till Wednesday

If you have failed to file your income tax returns by July 31, the last prescribed date, don’t fret. The department has extended the date till August 4. HT reports

If you have failed to file your income tax (IT) returns by July 31, the last prescribed date, don’t fret. The department has extended the date till August 4.

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Bad weather and technical snags in the IT department’s computer system forced it to take this action.

A statement by the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT), the governing body of IT, said that all returns filed electronically and manually (paper returns) on or before Wednesday would be considered as filed within the due date.

The statement added that the decision was taken in view of “some technical snags” in the e-filing computer system and inclement weather at various locations because of which taxpayers faced problems in filing their returns.

Naresh Dharia, a chartered accountant, said there were problems in uploading the returns on the department’s online system.

“Hence, taxpayers were unable to file the data and were not getting acknowledgements,” said Dharia.

IT officials said the department has extended the date as a large number of people have started filing returns online. This is evident from the fact that in 2009 2010, 52.53 lakh people in the country had filed returns electronically. Of these, 11.38 lakh taxpayers were from Maharashtra.

Extension of date is good news for taxpayers as otherwise the department would have levied simple interest of 1 per cent per month, on the tax liability, on those who had failed to file returns by July 31.

“Now, no interest would be charged if returns are filed till Wednesday,” Dharia said.