Govt extends deadline to file income tax returns to August 5

The five-day ITR extension is meant to address issue of seeding PAN and Aadhaar, in a major relief to scrambling taxpayers.

The government has extended the deadline for filing income tax returns (ITR) to August 5. The five-day ITR extension is meant to address issue of seeding PAN and Aadhaar.

The move comes in contrast to reports on Sunday that ruled out an extension for filing the returns. The last date for filing of Income Tax Return (ITRs) for the financial year 2016-17 will not be extended beyond tomorrow’s deadline, a top official told PTI on Sunday.

Actual linking of PAN with Aadhaar can be done subsequently, but any time before 31st August, 2017.

— Ministry of Finance (@FinMinIndia) July 31, 2017

However, the returns will not be processed until the linkage of Aadhaar with PAN is done.

— Ministry of Finance (@FinMinIndia) July 31, 2017

“The last date for filing of ITRs remains July 31. There are no plans to extend this deadline. The department has already received over 2 crore returns filed electronically. The department requests taxpayers to file their return in time,” the official said.



On reports of the efiling website facing some glitches, the official said no major glitches have been reported with the department’s efiling website — http://incometaxindiaefiling.gov.in/ — barring a few times when the portal was “interrupted for maintenance”.

The department has also issued advertisements in leading national dailies in the last few days stating that taxpayers should disclose their income “correctly” and file their ITR on or before July 31.

The linking of Aadhaar number with the PAN (Permanent Account Number) of a taxpayer has also been made mandatory for the filing of an ITR, beginning July 1.

The department has also asked taxpayers to declare cash deposits made in bank accounts aggregating to Rs 2 lakh or more, post demonetisation between November 9-December 30 last year, in the ITRs.

The income tax return to be filed by July 31 pertain to 2016-17 fiscal or assessment year 2017-18.