In Summary: Income taxpayers must file their income tax return under the old tax regime by July 31, 2024, as the option to file under the old tax regime will not be available from August 1, 2024, for FY 2023-24 (AY 2024-25). This will result in the loss of deductions and exemptions under the old tax regime and higher tax outgo in the new tax regime. A penalty of Rs 5,000 and penal interest under Section 234A will apply for belated ITR filing. The last date to file is July 31, 2024, for individual taxpayers not required to get their accounts audited. To claim deductions and exemptions under the old tax regime, the ITR must be filed on or before the deadline. The option to choose the old tax regime must be selected at the time of filing.
Taxpayers for whom the deadline is July 31 will no longer have the option to file an ITR under the previous tax regime. Assuming that the previous tax system was advantageous for them from the beginning, this will result in the loss of the ability to claim deductions and exemptions under the previous tax regime as well as a larger tax burden under the new tax regime. Due to the delayed ITR, an additional fine of Rs 5,000 and punitive interest under Section 234A would be imposed.
File your ITR immediately to choose the previous tax system:
The new tax regime is the default tax system under the current income tax rules. If the Individual Tax Return (ITR) is submitted by July 31st at the latest, the taxpayer may choose to revert to the previous tax system.
Investcorpus Expert Say “Individual taxpayers planning to file ITR under old tax regime must ensure that ITR is filed (even if not verified) on or before July 31,” states Investcorpus, a supplier of ITR filing services. Only under the new tax scheme may an ITR be filed belatedly if it is submitted after the deadline. As a result, a late ITR filer will not be eligible to claim tax exemptions and deductions that were offered under the previous tax law.
Point to Note: The ITR must be filed before July 31, 2024, at the latest, in order to be eligible for deductions and exemptions under the previous tax system. Furthermore, when submitting the ITR, the option to use the previous tax system must be explicitly chosen. Under the previous tax system, an amended ITR can be filed to fix errors in an ITR that was submitted right before the deadline. Recall that within 30 days of the filing date, an individual is permitted by income tax regulations to confirm the accuracy of their ITR. For FY 2023–24 (AY 2024–25), an ITR filed on July 31, 2024, must thus be confirmed by August 30, 2024, at the latest. If
Once the original ITR has been verified, a revised ITR can be submitted if an error is found in the previous one after it has been filed.
