Don’t Miss Income Tax Return Filling Last Date 31st March 2018

Income Tax Return Filling last date is 31^st March 2018 for belated income tax returns of financial year 2015-16 and 2016-17. After this date, you will not be able to file your income tax returns for the said period without any penalty.

Indian taxpayers get one year (for individuals with tax on income or refund) and two years window (for individuals without any tax on income also known as belated return) from the end of financial year for filling of Income Tax returns without penalties but, that’s changed now.

Financial Discipline for Tax Compliance

Financial Discipline is one of the major agenda government had given priority in last 4 years. It is necessary for the citizens of the country to have financial discipline in terms of compliance with various tax laws. This helps the government in proper budgetary plans as well as estimates of revenue.

To enforce financial discipline, government in Finance Act 2016 amended the time limit for filling belated tax returns and brought it down to 12 months instead of 24 months meaning, Income tax return for financial year 2016-17 can only be filled by 31^st March 2018.

Similarly government brought another amendment in the Finance Act 2017 about revision of belated return and reduced the timeline of revision from 24 to 12 months. CBDT circular raises hope for the facility to remain open for filing the revised return for financial year 2016-2017, till 31 March 2019.

From 31^st March 2018 onwards, income tax return filling timelines will have to be followed strictly by the taxpayers as any belated return may be charged to penalties by the Income Tax Department.

Income Tax Return Filling Requirement For Loan

The first step of documentation while applying for any kind of loan includes furnishing of Income tax returns. This is important for banks and financial institutions as they can validate the source of income disclosed by the applicant against the tax return. It also helps them identify the savings pattern and income trend of an individual.

Therefore, Individuals who are planning to obtain any loan from any Bank or Financial institution. This is the last opportunity for such individuals to file ITRs who do not have filled yet or have missed filling Income Tax Return for previous financial year 2015-16.

Overall, the agenda of financial discipline is good to have in a country like India where taxpayers are less compliant. Only 3% of the population file income tax returns which is not a good sign for any country. Demonetization and other measures of the government led to increase in filling of income tax returns which shows that slowly taxpayers are getting aware of the consequences and trying to be part of the mainstream.