Majority of Population think that filing Income tax return is voluntarily and therefore get away with the responsibility of filing Income tax return. Filing Income tax return is moral duty of every responsible person who have taxable Income in India. Two Key ingredients of Income tax return are:
Declare all income earned during the previous year
Pay up the entire tax liability/ claim refunds for excess TDS.
If you are being lazy and the date 31st of July seems like a far call then you are wrong, filing tax as early as possible is a good practice to avoid getting into crosshairs of the last minute rush filers & make mess of tax return. Prepare and execute your return ASAP.
You can file tax even if you have missed the deadline of July 31st, Penal interest will be charged only on pending tax liability. Penal interest increases with each passing month you delay to file tax if there is any pending tax liability.
A penalty of Rs 5,000/- is liable if failed to file tax on or before due date. Tax returns are also subject to time barring provision i.e. you cannot file tax returns for any years preceding financial year 2017-18.