Due Dates for E-Filing Returns

Filing Income Tax Returns (ITR) is mandatory for those who have an annual income of 3 lakhs and above. However, you are liable to pay taxes if you have an annual income of 5 lakhs or more. In order to file returns in time, you must be aware of the due dates; or else, you could end up paying penalties. Hence, we are here to provide you with the important dates to file your returns.

In Income Tax, the tax filer’s total income for the previous year is taxed in the assessment year. However, there are certain provisions in the act through which tax can be recovered through TDS, TCS, and payment of advance tax. A lot of people might be confused between TDS and TCS. In short, TDS is an expense, while TCS is an income. The basics of TCS and TDS, along with their due dates, are given below.

Tax Deducted at Source (TDS)

Tax Deducted at Source (TDS) is an indirect way to collect tax, which goes by the notion ‘pay as you earn’ and ‘collect when it is earned.’ In short, at the time of making any payment, the payer withholds a certain percentage of the amount and deposits it with the government. In this way, the tax on the income you get is charged in advance, rather than on a later date. In this mode, the recipient gets the net amount, i.e. after deduction of TDS. A few examples of expenses for which TDS is deducted are salary, casual income, payment of rent, payment of fees, interest on security, payment of commission or brokerage, etc.

Every individual for whom TDS has been deducted must file his/her TDS returns. These returns must be filed after particular intervals of time. Information that has to be submitted to the income tax authority includes Tax Deduction and Collection Account Number (TAN), Permanent Account Number (PAN), TDS payment, amount deducted, kind of payment, etc.

Here’s the list of forms that are needed under TDS, along with their purposes:

Form Number	Purpose
Form 24Q	Tax deducted from salaries
Form 26Q	Tax deducted on all payments apart from salaries
Form 27Q	Tax deducted from dividend or interest / amount paid to non-residents
Form 27EQ	Collection of tax at source

Due Dates to File TDS Returns for FY 2019-20 

TDS must be filed quarterly. The table below provides the months constituting each quarter and the last dates to file the return:

Quarter	Due date
April, May, June	July 31
July, August, September	October 31
October, November, December	January 31
January, February, March	May 31

Tax Collected at Source (TCS)

Tax Collected at Source (TCS) is the tax collected at prescribed rates by the seller or company from the payer or buyer on the sale of certain items. The seller transfers the tax collected from the purchaser to the government and issues a TCS certificate, for which the buyer of those goods will get credit.

Items taxed under TCS include tendu leaves, scrap, liquor(of alcoholic nature), toll, parking lot fees, jewellery (worth over five lakhs), bullion (of over two lakhs), and so forth. The rate of TCS differs for different items.

Due Dates to File TCS Returns for FY 2019-20 

TCS must also be filed quarterly. The table below provides the months constituting each quarter and the last dates to file the return:

Quarter	Due date
April, May, June	July 15
July, August, September	October 15
October, November, December	January 15
January, February, March	May 15

If you delay filing these returns or make errors while filing the same, you are imposed with certain charges, which can be in either of the two forms given below:

• Penalty

• Interest

Penalty

If the TDS returns are filed after the due date, or there are discrepancies in the return forms, the following penalties will be applicable:

• Penalty under Section 234E: If you fail to file your returns on or before the due date, you will be subjected to a late filing fee of Rs.200 per day. This fee is charged on a daily basis after the due date, up until your return is filed. However, the maximum fees that you have to pay will not exceed your TDS amount.

For instance, if an amount of Rs. 8000/- is due as TDS on May 12, and the amount is paid on November 17, the total number of days between the aforementioned dates is 190. Hence, Rs. 200/- per day for 190 days will amount to  Rs.38,000/-; but, since the payable TDS amount is Rs. 8000/-, your late filing fees will be Rs.8000/-. However, you will be charged with interest.

• Penalty under Section 271H: If you file the returns with wrong details, such as incorrect PAN, incorrect tax amount, etc., a penalty of Rs.10,000-Rs.1 lakh is levied. 

The penalty under Section 271H will not be charged under the following conditions:

• If you file the TDS/TCS return prior to the expiry of 1 year from the due date.

• The TDS/TCS is paid to the government’s credit.

• The interest and late filing fees have been paid to the government’s credit.

Interest

Section 201 of the Income Tax Act, 1961, provides the consequences of failure to deduct/pay TDS. Under sub section 1A of Section 201, interest on late payment of TDS is given. Section 201(1A) provides the interest rates for the following two situations:

Situation	Interest Rate	Period of Interest
Delay in deduction of TDS	1% per month	From the month in which TDS was deductible till the date of deduction
Delay in payment of TDS	1.5% per month	From the month in which TDS was deducted till the date of payment of tax

Example for situation 1:

Say the payable TDS amount of an individual is Rs. 8000/- . If the date on which TDS must be deducted was January 10, but it was deducted on May 14, the interest charged on the individual will be 1% of Rs.8000 per month × 5 months = Rs. 400/-.

Example for situation 2:

Say the payable TDS amount of an individual is Rs. 8000/- . If the date on which it was deducted was January 10, and TDS was paid on May 14, the interest charged to the individual will be 1.5% of Rs.8000 × 5 months = Rs. 600/-.