The income tax (I-T) department has introduced an automated filing system, annual information statement (AIS) along with other initiatives to ease the filing process. Due date for filing ITR for the assessment year 2021-2022 is December 31, 2021.
The taxpayers who are yet to file them, must do so before the due date as failing to file the ITR can create several problems for all taxpayers.
The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) set the deadline initially on July 31, but moved to September 30 due to multiple technical glitches that were flagged by users. Eventually, the government decided to extend the ITR filing deadline to December 31.
Meanwhile, as of December 3, over three crore ITRs have now been filed on the new e-filing portal of the Income Tax Department, as per the Ministry of Finance statement.
Additionally, the Income Tax Department has urged the taxpayers to view their Form 26AS and Annual Information Statement (AIS) through the e-filing portal to verify the accuracy of the TDS and Tax Payments and avail of pre-filling of ITRs.
“It is important for taxpayers to cross-check the data in the AIS statement with their Bank passbook, interest certificate, Form 16 and Capital gains statement from brokerages in case of purchase and sale of equity or Mutual funds etc,” the ministry said.
The process of e-verification through Aadhaar OTP and other methods is important for the department to commence processing of the ITR and to issue refunds if any.
The due date for filing Income Tax Returns for the assessment year 2021-2022 is December 31, 2021.