DELAYED RELEASE OF ITR FORMS MAY COMPEL CBDT TO EXTEND ITR FILING DEADLINE |
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The Hon’ble Punjab & Haryana High Court had directed the CBDT to make available the ITR forms on the very first day of the assessment year so that every taxpayer gets ample time to file their tax returns. However, the ITR forms for the current assessment year 2018-19 were notified by the department on April 3, 2018, without providing the return filing utilities and schema. This year, 7 ITR forms have been notified for filing of return by different categories of taxpayers.
However, till date return filing utilities have been released only for ITR 1 and ITR 4 which were issued on April 20, 2018 and May 10, 2018, respectively. And July 31st, 2018 is the last date for filing of returns for most of the individual taxpayers and electronic filing of return is mandatory in almost all cases
Individuals and Hindu Undivided Families (HUFs) are required to file returns using either of forms ITR 1, ITR 2, ITR 3 or ITR 4. Last year more than 64 million returns were filed only in these 4 forms, which is approximately 96 percent of total returns filed by all taxpayers, including corporate taxpayers and trusts.
As per statistics released by the department, 52.61 percent of total ITRs are filed using the Department’s utility. Only 122 days are allowed by the tax department after the end of the financial year to prepare and file ITRs. More than 40 days have already elapsed and without releasing the utilities it would not be possible for taxpayers to file their tax returns. Rule 12 of the Income-tax Rules, 1962 mandates almost every taxpayer to file ITR through online mode and, thus, ITR utilities play a vital role in filing of returns electronically.
For any queries/clarification you may contact
Bharat Poplani
B.Com, FCA, LLB
+91-9646380245