This problem is coming due to technical glitch on the server of IT department.
The Income Tax Department has extended the IT return filing date for the financial year 2020-21 (Assessment Year 2021-22) to 30 September 2021 for individual taxpayers. This decision has been taken due to the outbreak of Covid pandemic.
Despite the government announcement of extension of ITR filing date, many taxpayers are complaining that the income tax portal is levying a late fee of Rs 5,000 on returns filed in the last few days. The complaint is being made through social media and the department is being requested to remove the late filing fee from the server.
Looking at the late fee penalty rules, if a person does not file the return within the stipulated date, then he has to pay interest on the dues. Apart from this, as per section 23 4F, a profit of Rs 5,000 will have to be paid on late return filing. But if the total income of a taxpayer does not exceed Rs 50000 lakh, then he will have to pay only Rs 1000 as late fee.
Most of the experts say that this problem is coming due to technical glitch on the server of IT department or the department has not yet updated its tax filing software with the increased deadline. Experts say that tax filers should wait till the IT department updates its software. Only then do the filing.
