Late fee / Penalty to file Income Tax Return after due date. Section 234F of Income Tax Act, 1961

 

 

A new Section 234F has been inserted to Income tax Act, 1961 with Effect from Financial Year 2017-18 (Assessment Year 2018-19).

The due date for filing income tax return for salaries persons and those who are not liable to get their account audited was 31.08.2018. For Assessees of flood affected state of Kearala, the due date for filing Income Tax Return has been extended to 15.09.2018.

 

 

 

As per section 234F of the Income Tax Act, 1961, all those assessees who has not filed income tax return before due date are liable to pay fee/penalty under Section 234F of the Income tax Act, 1961 calculated as under:

Total Income Return filing date Penalty (Fee)
Upto Rs. 5 Lakhs After due date Rs. 1,000/-
Above Rs. 5 Lakhs Return filed on or before 31st December of the Assessment year but after due date Rs. 5,000/-
  In Any Other Case Rs. 10,000/-

 

Provision Under Section 234F of Income tax Act 1961

New inserted provision under the act is as under:

"76. After section 234E of the Income-tax Act, the following section shall be inserted with effect from the 1st day of April, 2018, namely:-

"234F. Fees for default in furnishing return of income.-(1) Without prejudice to the provisions of this Act, where a person required to furnish a return of income under section 139, fails to do so within the time prescribed in sub-section (1) of said section, he shall pay, by way of fee, a sum of,-

(a) five thousand rupees, if the return is furnished on or before the 31st day of December of the assessment year;
(b) ten thousand rupees in any other case:
Provided that if the total income of the person does not exceed five lakh rupees, the fee payable under this section shall not exceed one thousand rupees.

(2) The provisions of this section shall apply in respect of return of income required to be furnished for the assessment year commencing on or after the 1st day of April, 2018."