Govt firm on July 31 income tax returns deadline

economictimes.indiatimes.com:

NEW DELHI: The finance ministry is ruling out the possibility of extending the deadline for filing income tax returns (ITRs) beyond July 31, amid calls for a postponement. Officials told TOI that the government was of the view that the deadline should not be extended unless there were major problems with the income tax portal, which is not the case at the moment.

Tax professionals, who usually make this plea every year, are of the view that several taxpayers are finding it difficult to file their returns due to floods in several parts of the country. Besides, the life of people in Manipur has been disrupted in the wake of ethnic violence for the past several weeks.

While officials were sympathetic to the situation in Manipur, they said that flooding was an annual feature in many parts of the country and people should not always wait for the last moment to file their returns. So far, over 4 crore returns have been filed as officials pointed out that even last year the deadline was not extended.