And thanks to the extension given on May 27, there will obviously be no interest or penalty payable for filing income tax return after July 31.
Under 234A, taxpayer has to pay 1 percent interest on tax liability when return is filed after the due date but since the due date has been extended, there will be no additional interest.
“By virtue of deadline extension, there will be no interest payable under section 234A. However, provisons of 234B and 234C will be applicable which kick in when there is delay in payment of advance tax,” says CA Pratibha Goel, a Delhi-based chartered account and partner, PD Gupta and Co.
“Had the notification stated that there will be interest or penalty payable, then it would have been a different scenario,” she adds.
CA Chirag Chauhan, a Mumbai based chartered accountant, echoes the same sentiment. “It is a myth that there will be interest payable under 234A for filing the tax return after July 31 this year. This provision comes into effect when the return is filed after the due date which is given under section 139. But when the due date itself is extended, then why will there be any interest on the late filing. However, interest on delay in payment of advance tax will definitely be there. And it is already in effect not only after July 31,” says Chauhan.
What are sections 234A and 234B?
Section 234A of Income Tax Act entails payment of interest at the rate of 1 percent per month when the taxpayer files his/her income tax return after the due date. This means someone files a tax return after July 31 is liable to pay interest. However, since the deadline itself has been extended, then this has naturally been taken care of.
Section 234B: Payment of tax is slightly different from filing of ITR. Taxpayers are supposed to pay advance tax along the deadlines given in the months of June, Sept, Dec and March. Read this article for more details.
And when 90 percent of advance tax is not paid till March 31 of the same financial year, then interest is levied for non-payment or underpayment of advance tax.
Once the advance tax is paid, taxpayers can file their return to claim refund (if there is) before the due date i.e., July 31 or Sept 15 as the case may be .
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