The Income Tax Department has reduced the time limit for ITR verification from 120 days to 30 days from the date of filing the first ITR. In a notification issued on July 29, 2022, the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) said that this new rule regarding ITR verification will be effective from August 1, 2022. CBDT The notification also said that the reduced time limit of 30 days is applicable to ITRs filed on or after August 1, 2022; For individuals who have filed ITR on or before July 31, 2022, the verification deadline is 120 days.
The latest CBDT notification also states that if a person verifies the ITR after 30 days (i.e. the new deadline), the date of submission of e-verification/ ITR-V in such cases will be allowed to be furnished. date will be considered. of income. Further, all consequences of late filing of return under the Income Tax Act, 1961 shall be applicable including penal consequences.
There are three related situations here: ITR Filing and verification.
Situation 1: If you have filed your ITR for FY 2021-22 before the deadline of July 31, 2022 then you have 120 days to verify your return. If you miss this verification deadline you can apply for an apology for the delay to the tax department. If your clemency request is accepted, you can verify your ITR. If apology request If rejected, your ITR will be treated as not filed and you will have to file it again as a belated ITR. Late ITR filing will attract a late fee of up to Rs 5000, for which you will have 30 days to verify as it must have been filed after July 31, 2022.
Situation 2: If you have missed the July 31 deadline and are filing delayed ITR for FY 2021-22, late fee will be applicable to you in any case. Though the time limit for verification of this delayed ITR will be 30 days, if you miss the verification deadline then you will not have to pay the late fee again. This is because you may have already paid the fee for delayed ITR filing.
Situation 3: If you fall under the category of persons whose accounts are to be audited for filing ITR, then the deadline for filing ITR for FY 2021-22 is September 30, 2022. If you do not verify the ITR within 30 days, the date ITR filing will be taken as the date on which you verify it. So, if the normal deadline applicable to you is (i.e. 30th September) for filing ITR, when you verify your ITR then you will have to pay the applicable fee on delayed ITR.
Chartered accountant Ruchika Bhagat, MD, Neeraj Bhagat & Company, a chartered accountant firm, says, “If the deadline (30 days) for ITR verification is missed, the tax return filing date will be the tax return date. Return gets verified (e-verified / physical ITR-V submitted). The fee will be charged. The income tax portal may ask the taxpayer to deposit the late filing fee (up to a maximum of Rs 5,000) before the taxpayer gets the option to verify his ITR, provided the due date for filing ITR is over. ,
Applicability of late fee in case ITR is not verified within 30 days. The following table is applicable only in case of ITR filed after July 31, 2022.
| verification time | tax return date | Time limit under section 139(1) on the date of filing of ITR | Late Fee u/s 234F |
| ITR data is uploaded on Income Tax Portal and e-Verified / ITR-V is submitted within 30 days | The date of uploaded ITR will be considered as the date of filing of ITR. | expired | Suitable |
| not finished | Not Applicable | ||
| ITR data uploaded on income tax portal but e-verified or ITR-V submitted beyond 30 days time limit | The date of e-verification/ submission of ITR-V will be treated as the date of filing of ITR and all consequences of late filing of return (including allowing carry forward of loss) may apply. | expired | Suitable |
| not finished | Not Applicable |
Source: RSM India
Suresh Surana, Founder, RSM India – a Tax Consulting Group says, “If a person opts for physical verification of ITR (i.e., by sending ITR-V to CPC, Bengaluru through post), then the remittance of Speed Post For the purpose of determining the period of 30 days from the date of transmission of the data of Income Tax Return electronically on the normal post of ITR-V / Duly attested ITR-V.”
Can You File a Pardon Request If the 30-Day ITR verification deadline is missed?
Earlier, if a person misses the ITR verification deadline of 120 days, he has the option to file a condonation request. In a ‘condonation request’, the taxpayer requests the tax department to allow the ITR to be verified and also mentions the reason for failing to verify the ITR within the stipulated time frame. Verification of ITR is allowed if the department is satisfied. With the new amendment, the tax department has said that failing to verify ITR within the 30-day deadline could result in late filing. Therefore, can an individual taxpayer still file a pardon request?
“The apology request can be filed anytime on the online portal giving justified reasons for the delay in e-verification, if the Income Tax Department is satisfied with the reasons, the apology will be accepted. If condonation is granted by the department, the delay will The penalty will be waived if you file from there”, says Bhagat.
If the tax department does not allow you to verify your ITR even after the deadline for verification has passed, then the ITR will be considered invalid. Naveen Wadhwa, DGM, Chartered Accountant, Taxman.com says, “When the previous unverified ITR is treated as invalid tax return, the taxpayer can file the return late (provided the due date for filing the original return is over) Where a return is treated as invalid, non-filing of tax return will have consequences (such as forfeiture of loss, interest u/s 234A/B/C, etc.) even if the taxpayer files the return late. A taxpayer can apply for condonation of delay in filing return of income and exemption of interest.”