The Finance Ministry on Wednesday announced that the deadline for e-filing income tax returns has been extended to September 7, 2015. This is the second time it has extended the deadline this year.
Coming as it does on September 2, this announcement marks several firsts for the Income Tax deparment.
“This is the first time the government has extended the deadline after the deadline has passed. Even the last time it extended the deadline, in assessment year 2013-14, it did so on the last day,” Vikram Ramchand, CIO and co-founder of makemyreturns.com told The Hindu .
This is also the first time in recent times that the government has extended the deadline twice in the same year, Mr. Ramchand added.
The previous deadline for filing income tax returns was August 31, itself an extension from the usual July 31, due to the late release of new, simplified income tax returns forms by the department.
However, it is unclear why this second revision of dates has taken place. “There is no real reason why the date has been extended. Those who were proactive filed their returns by July 31, and the laggards did it by August 31,” Mr. Ramchand said.
One possible reason for the extension could be the late release of the >ITR-4 forms , which are the most important for self-employed people and business owners, he added.
“The ITR-1 and ITR-2 forms, which usually come out in April or May this time came out in June. The ITR-4 form came out only on August 1. It is a more complex form, and needs more care while filling, so it could be to help those filers that this deadline has been extended,” Mr. Ramchand said, adding that he would have expected the deadline to have been pushed by a month rather than just a week.
