Income Tax

IT Dept. gives One-time Relaxation for the verification of e-filed ITRs

The Central Board of Direct Taxes has decided to provide one-time relaxation for the verification of e-filed ITRs for Assessment Year 2020-21 that are pending for verification owing to non-submission of ITR V form or pending e-verification, informed Income Tax Department. The tax department stated that the last date to file ITR for AY 2020-21 shall remain 31^st December 2021. This announcement comes at a time when taxpayers are finding it difficult to e-file ITR due to technical glitches.

IT dept. gives one-time relaxation: Whom does it impact?

The latest notification does not relate to the upcoming due date for filing ITR for FY 2020-21 or AY 2021-22 but it will provide relief to individuals who are required to get verification done for all e-filed ITRs for AY 2020-21 or FY 2019-20.

The CBDT made a statement that in respect of an ITR filed electronically without a digital signature, the taxpayer must verify it within the time limit of 120 days from the date of uploading ITR.

The relaxation was given by the income tax department after CBDT said that a large number of e-filed ITRs for the AY 2020-21 remain pending with the department due to want of receipt of a valid ITR-V form.

The CBDT said that under law, the consequence of not being able to verify ITR within the time allowed is significant as such an ITR is/can be declared non-est. After that, the consequence of non-filing of ITR, as provided under the Income Tax Act 1961 will follow.

Therefore in this context, the board decided to provide one-time relaxation for submission of ITR V/e-verification for resolving taxpayers grievances related to the non-verification of ITRs for the AY 2020-21 and to regularize ITRs which have become non-est or have remained pending with income tax department for want of receipt of respective form ITR V or pending e-verification.

It may be noted that this relaxation will not apply if, during the intervening period, the income tax department has already taken recourse to any other measure as provided in the Act in order to ensure filing of tax return by the taxpayer concerned after declaring the return as non-est.

Further, the board stated that it relaxed the time frame for issuing the intimation as provided in the second proviso to sub-section (1) of Section 143 of the Act and directed that such returns will be processed by the end of June 2022 and intimation of processing such returns will be sent to the concerned taxpayer as per the procedure.

In cases related to refund, provision of Section 244A (2) of the Act will apply, while determining the interest. The CBDT clarified that this relaxation will apply to such returns that are verified during the extended period.

Further, the CBDT added that if a taxpayer doesn’t get his or her return regularized by providing a valid verification by 28^th February 2022 then required consequences under law for non-filing of return will follow.

IT dept. gives one-time relaxation: Is it related to upcoming ITR filing (Due Date of 31 December 2021)?

As a taxpayer, you must note that the extension mentioned above is not related to the upcoming ITR filing due date of 31 December 2021. The tax department^[1] has requested the taxpayers to file their ITRs within the due date to avoid paying penalties.

Meanwhile, various taxpayers have complained about the issues that they are facing while filing ITRs on the new income tax portal. Hence taxpayers on various social media platforms requested the tax department to extend the due date for filing ITR for FY 2020-21.

Queries of Taxpayers

Some of the common queries of the taxpayers are provided below-

Will taxpayers be able to file ITRs after the due date?

Taxpayers will be able to file ITRs even after the due date but will face penalties based on their taxable income. 

Will the due date be extended?

There hasn’t been any update on ITR filing extension by the tax department. However, there could be an extension considering the fact that many are unable to file ITR due to technical glitches that they are facing on the new tax filing portal. Many CAs and tax geeks believe that existing issues with the portal necessitate for an extension of ITR filing.

Conclusion

To sum it up, please note that ITRs that are e-filed without digital signature, taxpayers must verify it within 120 days using data like Aadhaar OTP etc. Such returns can now be filed by 28^th Feb 2022. This one-time relaxation was provided by CBDT. Taxpayers should file ITR within the due date, failing which penalties will be imposed.

Read our article:Ways to do ITR verification