Verification is the last step of filing income tax return (ITR). As per income tax laws, the ITR must be verified within 120 days from the date of filing ITR. There are six ways of verifying ITR; five of these can be done electronically and the sixth route is by sending a physical copy to Centralized Processing Centre (CPC), Bengaluru.
What will happen if you do not verify your ITR with the 120-day time limit; it could happen that you forgot to do so.
If a filed ITR is not verified, then your tax return will not be treated as a valid return by the income tax department. Further, your ITR will not be taken up for processing by the tax department if not verified. Added to this, any tax refund claimed by you will not be given to you unless you have filed a verified ITR and the same has been confirmed by the income tax department after processing.
In case there is a genuine reason due to which ITR was not verified within the prescribed time limit then an individual can file a condonation delay request on the e-filing income tax portal. At the time of filing such a request, an individual will be required to mention the reason explaining why ITR was not verified earlier.
Dr Suresh Surana, Founder, RSM India says, “The income tax department has been given wide authority by the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) under section 119(2)(b) of the Income Tax Act, 1961 to admit an application or claim for any exemption, deduction, refund or any other relief after the expiry of the period specified under the Act. Thus, this allows income tax department to condone the delay in specific cases like failure of verifying the income tax return within the prescribed time limit of 120 days from the date of filing ITR.”
The income tax department accepts condonation delay request if the criterion are met:
a) A claim is genuine and correct;
b) Income for which tax return is filed is not assessable in the hands of any other person;
c) There is genuine hardship faced by the taxpayer due to which ITR was not timely verified.
Process of filing condonation delay request
Follow the steps below on the new income tax portal for filing condonation delay request:
Step 1: Login to your account on the new income tax portal.
Step 2: On your Dashboard, under the Services Tab, select ‘Condonation Request’.
Step 3: On the Condonation Request page, you will be required to select the type of condonation request you want to proceed with. However, currently income tax department shows only one option: Delay in submission of ITR-V. Select it and click on ‘Continue’.
Step 4: On the Delay in submission of ITR-V page, click Create Condonation Request.
Step 5: On the Select ITR page, select the record for which you want to raise a condonation request for delay in ITR-V submission and click Continue.
Step 6: On the Provide reason for delay page, select the reason of your delay and click Submit.
A success message along with a Transaction ID is displayed. Keep a note of the Transaction ID for future reference. You will also receive a confirmation message on the email ID and mobile number registered with e-Filing portal.
Last date for filing condonation delay request
Surana says, “Under the Income-tax Act, there is no specific provision providing for a limitation period for filing a condonation delay request. However, CBDT vide Circular No. 9/2015 dated June 9, 2015, has provided that no condonation application for claim of refund/loss shall be entertained beyond six years from the end of the assessment year for which such application/claim is made.”
Tracking the status of delay condonation application
You must track the status of condonation request through the new income tax portal. The status can be tracked through the ‘Condonation Request’ under the ‘Services’ tab.
Do keep in mind that till the time your delay condonation request is not accepted, you will not be able to file ITR. It is pertinent to note that there is no timeline specified for the approval or rejection of condonation request. However, usually such requests are processed by the tax department within 3 to 4 months.
What if condonation delay request is rejected?
A non-verified return is treated as an invalid return under the income tax laws, i.e., an individual will have to bear all the consequences of not filing a tax return. In case a condonation request of the assessee is not granted, he/she would be subject to penal provisions. One could end up paying a penalty or even end up going to prison, this is because not filing ITR could be treated as tax evasion.
Here is a quick look at the consequences of not filing ITR.
- Such default would attract late filing fees of Rs 5,000 under section 234F. However, if the total income of the taxpayer is up to Rs 5 lakh, then such late fees would be restricted to Rs 1,000.
- The taxpayer would also be subjected to interest under section 234A at 1% per month or part of the month for any amount of tax remaining unpaid.
- The taxpayer would not be allowed to claim the benefit of certain deductions and/or set off and carry forward of losses other than loss from house property loss, due to non-filing of the tax return within the prescribed due dates.
- In case of non-filing of tax return, the tax authorities will be of the view that the motive is tax evasion. They have the power to levy penalty under 270A on account of under-reporting of income which would be equivalent to 50% of the tax avoided by the taxpayer by way of non-filing of return.
- The authority can also initiate prosecution under section 276CC with respect to the defaulting taxpayer wherein he may be subjected to a rigorous imprisonment for a term which shall range from minimum 3 months to two years and along with fine, depending on the amount of tax evaded.
