Over 6.3 mn returns filed till 10 pm on last day: Income Tax department

Over 63.47 lakh income tax returns were filed till 10 pm on Sunday, the last day for filing ITR for the 2021-22 fiscal by salaried individuals, the Income Tax department said.

The deadline for filing I-T returns by those taxpayers who do not have to get their accounts audited for the fiscal that ended on March 31, 2022 was Sunday.

Till July 30, more than 5.1 crore tax returns were filed.

Taking the 63.47 lakh returns filed on the last day, the total number of ITRs for the 2021-22 fiscal filed till 10 pm went past 5.73 crore.

ITR filing will go on till midnight, after which the tax-return filers will have to pay a late fee for delayed filing.

Giving statistics of the Income Tax Returns (ITR) filed on Sunday, the I-T department tweeted: "63,47,054 #ITRs have been filed up to 2200 hours today and 4,60,496 #ITRs filed in the last 1 hr."

In the last fiscal (2020-21), about 5.89 crore ITRs were filed by the extended due date of December 31, 2021.

Over the last one month, the I-T department has been nudging the taxpayers to file their ITRs for the 2021-22 fiscal to avoid the levy of the late fee.

The department had also asked the taxpayers to seek assistance regarding ITR filing by sending e-mails to orm@cpc.incometax.gov.in or calling help desk numbers 1800 103 0025 and 1800 419 0025.

According to tax laws, a late fee of Rs 5,000 would be payable by those with an annual income of over Rs 5 lakh, if they file their ITR by December 31 of the assessment year.

Individuals with an annual income of below Rs 5 lakh will be liable to pay a late fee of Rs 1,000 for delayed return filing.

Besides, those who have outstanding unpaid tax will have to shell out an additional 1 per cent interest per month for delayed filing.

The late fee will not apply to those taxpayers whose income is below the taxable limit.