Income Tax return: File ITR before March 31, else you may end up in jail

Income Tax department can impose a minimum penalty of Rs 3000, but it can increase upto Rs 2.5 lakh depending upon the amount you have avoided in returns.

Income Tax experts say that if an individual delays in filing returns, he/she would be deprived of several benefits. Representational Image, source: Pixabay

If you are an income tax payee and have so far not been able to file your return for the financial year 2017-18 or the assessment year 2018-19, you may end up in trouble because March 31, 2019 is the last day to file your income tax returns. You should know that if you fail to do so, you would be penalised. If you do so deliberately, and your balance amount is over Rs 3000, then the Income Tax department can lodge a case against you. According to Income Tax department, the last date to file returns was August 31, 2018, but with penalty return could be filed till March 31, 2019. If you have not done it so far, you must have been intimated through email or SMS by the I-T department.

Income Tax experts say that if an individual delays in filing returns, he/she would be deprived of several benefits. If case, you do file your returns till March 31, 2019, you would not be able to your returns despite paying the penalty.

Taxpayers should know that delay in filing income tax returns spoils your financial record and also invites scruitny. Under the process of scrutiny, income tax department issues a notice, after that the assessing officer may conduct inquiries as deemed necessary from the assessee.

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Income Tax department can impose a minimum penalty of Rs 3000, but it can increase upto Rs 2.5 lakh depending upon the amount you have avoided in returns.

Currently, it has become mandatory file your I-T returns. From August 31 and before December 31, you have pay the penalty of Rs 5,000, and after this period, this can be increased to Rs 10,000. If Taxpayers' income is below Rs 5 Lakh, this penalty would be Rs 1000. In case you are expected to pay Advance Tax and TDS, then you have pay that amount with one interest.

Among other offences, if you have return amount over Rs 3000 then you have to bear the charges of hiding your income. In such case, over 50 per cent penalty can be imposed on you. Besides paying penalty of Rs 10,000 you can be sentenced for a period of 3 months to years under the provisions of law.

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If your payment amount is over Rs 25 lakh, then your sentence can be from 6 months to 7 years.

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