The Income Tax department has extended the deadline for filing tax returns to 31st August, 2019. If eligible taxpayers are unable to file income tax returns by the deadline, late charges and penalties are levied by the income tax department. Delays in receiving form 16 by employees is one of the main reasons why the IT department has been extending deadlines for the past couple of years.

According to the prevailing guidelines, a maximum penalty of Rs 10,000 is levied on taxpayers who delay the ITR beyond the due date. Taxpayers with annual income up to Rs 5 lakhs will have to pay a penalty of Rs 1,000 only. A monetary penalty of Rs 5,000 is applicable on the taxpayers filing the income tax returns after the ITR filing due date up to December 31, 2019. The penalty escalates to Rs 10,000 if the taxpayers defer the tax returns beyond December 31, 2019, irrespective of whether your salary is above or below Rs 5 lakh.

In July 2019, the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) had extended the ITR filing deadline by a month to August 30, 2019, from the earlier due date of July 31, 2019. If you have some tax due, apart from the late filing fee, you will also have to pay a monthly interest of 1% on your tax due till the month of payment.

(Also read: How to register and file income tax return online)