IT Dept to refund excess interest, late fee collected while filing returns for FY21

The Income Tax (I-T) Department on Wednesday said it will refund the excess interest and late fee collected from taxpayers while filing their income tax returns (ITR) for financial year 2020-21.

Responding to a news report saying that many taxpayers were charged late fee while filing ITR despite the last date for it being extended, the I-T Department said on Twitter, “The ITR software was rectified on 1st Aug 2021 itself to remove the error due to incorrect computation of interest u/s 234A and late fee u/s 234F. Taxpayers have been advised to use the latest version of the ITR preparation software or file online.”

The I-T department had extended the last date for filing ITR for last financial year to September 30, 2021, from July 31 to give relief to taxpayers during the pandemic.

“If, by any chance, someone has already submitted the ITR with such incorrect interest or late fee, the same will be correctly calculated while processing at CPC-ITR and the excess amount paid, if any, will be refunded in the normal course,” the I-T department said in another tweet.

Nangia & Co LLP Partner Shailesh Kumar said it is common to have errors or bugs in ITR or any other e-filing utility. After realising the errors/ bugs, the I-T Department releases new version of such e-filing utility, removing the error.

“Thus, taxpayers are always advised to check the latest e-filing utility, while filing their ITR. If any errors are still found, then it must be reported to the concerned authorities for necessary resolution,” he told news agency PTI.

The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) had launched a new income tax e-filing portal in June. However, the new portal had a rocky start from the day of its roll-out as it continued to face technical glitches. This prompted Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to convene a meeting on June 22 with the executives of Infosys, which developed the new portal.

Last month, Infosys CEO and MD Salil Parekh said the company was focused on expeditiously resolving the issues with the new portal. He said several functionalities of the portal were working fine and a large number of ITRs had been filed through it.

Source: businesstoday.In