Govt extends ITR filing deadline till August 31

NEW DELHI: The government on Thursday extended the deadline for filing income tax return for the assessment year 2018-19. The deadline of July 31, 2018, has been extended by a month, the Ministry of Finance said in a series of posts on microblogging site Twitter. That means the assessees can file their income tax return (ITR) for the financial year 2017-18 by August 31 without any penalty charges.

"The Due Date for filing of Income Tax Returns for Assessment Year 2018-19 is 31.07.2018 for certain categories of taxpayers... Upon consideration of the matter, the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) extends the 'Due Date' for the filing of Income Tax Returns from 31st July 2018 to 31st August 2018 in respect of the said categories of taxpayers," the ministry said.

Around 6.84 crore income tax returns were filed during the financial year 2017-18, compared to 5.43 crore filed in the previous year, as per government records.