INCOME TAX RETURNS filed in 2020 versus 2019 – Where does the country stand in this pandemic year? Check comparison

The year 2020 has been a year of challenges and roadblocks for India and the world primarily because of the Coronavirus pandemic. But there are many things that have been encouraging. One such thing is the Income Tax Returns (ITR) filing. The Income Tax Department has put a comparison via a tweet on its twitter handle. Take a look at the comparisons between 2019 and 2020. 

As many as 3.75 cr taxpayers have already filed their Income Tax returns for Assessment Year 2020-21 (fiscal year 2019-20) till December 21, the Income Tax department said on Tuesday. 

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Giving a comparative analysis of the ITRs filed, the Income Tax department further said that the number of ITRs filed till 21 August 2019 were 3.63 cr as against 3.75 crore ITRs filed till 21 December 2020. 

It has also urged the taxpayers to file their returns as the deadline for filing it ends on 31 December 2020. 

See Tweet Here:

Do you know that 3.75 crore taxpayers have already filed their Income Tax Returns for AY 2020-21 till 21st December, 2020?
Have you filed yours yet?
If not, File NOW!

For filing your #ITReturn for AY 2020-21 please visit: https://t.co/EGL31K6szN#ITR#AajHiFileKaro pic.twitter.com/lEfG92J2D7

— Income Tax India (@IncomeTaxIndia) December 22, 2020

"Do you know that 3.75 crore taxpayers have already filed their Income Tax Returns for AY 2020-21 till 21st December 2020? Have you filed yours yet? If not, File NOW!," the Income Tax department tweeted. 

As per the information, this includes 2.17 cr taxpayers filing ITR-1, 79.82 lakh filing ITR-4, 43.18 lakh ITR-3 and 26.56 lakh filing ITR-2. 

ITR Filing Deadline: 

The deadline to file IT returns by individual taxpayers for 2019-20 fiscal (Assessment Year 2020-21) ends on 31 December 2020, while the same for taxpayers whose accounts require to be audited is 31 January 2021. 

Amid the pandemic, the Narendra Modi Government relaxed the returns filing date on two occasions – from 31 July and 31 October 31 2020, respectively. 

At the close of deadline for filing ITR without payment of late fees for fiscal 2018-19 (assessment year 2019-20), over 5.65 crore returns were filed by taxpayers. The deadline last year too was extended till August 31, PTI reported. 

Returns in ITR-1 Sahaj can be filed by an ordinarily resident individual whose total income does not exceed Rs 50 lakh, while Form ITR-4 Sugam is meant for resident individuals, HUFs and firms (other than LLP) having a total income above Rs 50 lakh and having presumptive income from business and profession, the report said. 

While ITR-3 and 6 are filed by businesses, ITR-2 is filed by people having income from residential property; ITR-5 is filed by LLP and Association of Persons (AoPs). ITR-7 is filed by a person in receipt of income derived from property held under trust or other legal obligation wholly for charitable or religious purposes or in part only for such purposes, the report said.