More than 6.5 crore income tax returns filed

The gross direct tax collection for 2022-23 fiscal grew 20.33 per cent at Rs 19.68 lakh crore.

More than 6.5 crore income tax returns were filed till 6 pm on Monday in the current financial year, which is 11.5% higher when compared with 5.83 crore ITRs filed till midnight of 31st July last fiscal, the government data showed.

“More than 6.50 crore ITRs have been filed so far (July 31), out of which about 36.91 lakh ITRs have been filed today till 6 pm,” Income Tax Department said in a tweet.

July 31 is the due date for filing of income tax returns. The number of returns filed on the last date jumps. A total 72.42 lakh ITRs were filed on July 31, 2022. Chairman of Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) Nitin Gupta recently said that the number of returns filed on July 31st this year is likely to be higher than last year’s.

Trends indicate that over 40 lakh more ITRs are expected to be filed in the last 6 hours of July 31. This will take the total ITRs number close to 7 crore.

“We have witnessed more than 1.78 crore successful logins on the e-filing portal till 6 pm, today,” the Income Tax Department said.

While the Income Tax Department claimed that its “helpdesk is functioning on 24x7 basis” and “providing support through calls, live chats, WebEx sessions & social media” a large number of users complained about glitches in the income tax portal and demanded the extension of the deadline.

July 31 is the ITR filing due date for those individuals whose accounts are not required to be audited. If such individuals miss the deadline, they can file a belated ITR, which attracts a penalty. A maximum penalty of Rs 5,000 will be levied if a taxpayer files the ITR after the due date and until 31st December.

However, the penalty is limited to Rs 1,000 for individuals whose total income is less than Rs 5 lakh. Additionally, a taxpayer is required to pay an interest of 1% per month on any unpaid tax amount.