Recently, the Income Tax Officials of different states issued guidelines regarding false deductions being claimed by employees of different organisations to reduce the total amount of tax that they are supposed to pay. Let us find out what these guidelines are about!

What Are The Recent Guidelines Regarding Tax Deductions?

Recently employees, especially in Hyderabad, Mumbai, Bangalore and Delhi were issued notices to correct the Income Tax filed by them as the officials had deducted false deductions being claimed by them. The income tax department asked such defaulters to either correct the Income Tax Return filed by them or face penal action.

The department received information that the employees were claiming deductions for things apart from those mentioned in the Form 16 submitted. Experts noted that the electronic filing of Income Tax Return or ITR has made it easy to detect such misrepresentations by taxpayers.

How To Correct The Income Tax Return Filed?

For the purpose of making corrections in the income tax return filed by you, you have two options. You can either file a revised income tax return after making the corrections in your already filed ITR or you can file an Updated Income Tax Return or ITR-U. While filing the ITR-U, you have to pay certain additional taxes for defaulting in filing the revised income tax return.

Since the liability of filing an incorrect ITR can not be shifted by the taxpayer, it is better to file a revised ITR or ITR-U timely to prevent the attention of income tax authorities. Currently, the deadlines to file an ITR-U are:

• AY 2021-22: 31st March 2024

• AY 2022-23: 31st March 2025

• AY 2023-24: 31st March 2026

AY stands for Assessment Year.

What Are The Penalties For Filing An Incorrect ITR?

There are different penalties prescribed under the Income Tax Act, 1961 for misreporting of tax. There are certain monetary penalties which keep changing from time to time for wrong personal details. The major penalties under the Act are:

• Revised Return: Upon filing a wrong ITR, you can correct it by filing a revised return under Section 139(5) of the Income Tax Act. There is no penalty for filing a revised return.

• Deliberate Misreporting: Filing of incorrect information to underreport income, the penalties can be really high. The penalty can range from 100% to 300% of the tax amount due.

• Incorrect Form: Using the wrong ITR form can also attract penalties. The tax authorities may impose fines or other legal implications for non-compliance.

• Late Filing: If you file your ITR after the due date but before December 31st, a penalty of up to ₹5,000 can be imposed. For small taxpayers with a total income not exceeding ₹5 lakh, the maximum penalty is ₹1,000.

Conclusion

Filing the correct income tax return and paying appropriate and timely tax is the duty of every citizen of India. You can follow the above given steps and information to correct your ITR in case you have entered some wrong information. Remember, paying taxes is one of the most important duties of a citizen.

For information, queries or grievances, reach out to the income tax authorities by dialling 1800 103 0025 or 1800 419 0025.