Missed the income tax return (ITR) filing deadline of 31st July, extended to 4th Aug?

The deadline for filing income tax return for an individual is 31^st July. And the same was extended to 4^th Aug this year.

What happens if we miss the due date and do not file the income tax return by the deadline?

There are various scenarios but the one that suits all of us in BSF, with a salary and Tax Deducted at Source, is that we do not have any Net Tax payable after the tax collected by PAD. It is a separate issue that PAD collected extra tax in many cases and then failed to deposit the same with IT Deptt with proper details resulting in delayed or no refunds in most cases. 

However if net tax payable is NIL this deadline of 31^st July, or 4^th Aug has no significance.

The income tax return for a given assessment year can be filed any time till the end of that assessment year without any penalty.

For the current Assessment Year 2010-11, we are filing returns for the Financial Year 2009-10 and the same can be filed till 31^st March 2011 without any penalty, provided NO TAX IS DUE AFTER TDS.

So, even if you have not filed the return by 31^st July or even till date, you can file the return any time till 31^st March 2011 without any penalty.

However it is advisable not to wait till March, it is better to file our return at the earliest.