With due dates for two key tax return filings approaching, experts believe that the process has been quite smooth this year despite some calls to extend the deadlines.
December 31 is the deadline for filing the Annual Returns for 2021-22 for the Goods and Services Tax. Entities with an aggregate annual turnover of Rs 5 crore in the fiscal 2021-22 are expected to file the annual return in Form GSTR-9 along with a self-certified reconciliation statement in Form GSTR 9C. Late filing will attract a late fee.
On the direct tax side, taxpayers can file a belated or revised income tax return for the assessment year 2022-23 by December 31. Belated income tax returns will have to be filed with a late fee while revised returns can be filed without a late fee if the original return had been filed earlier.
In all, over 71.4 million income tax returns have been filed for AY 2022-23 by December 25 this year, of which 64.9 million have already been processed.
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“For those who have filed their ITRs well before the due date, the process has been smooth. There are always last-minute problems due to heavy volumes. However, there have not been too many calls for extending the due date,” said a tax practitioner.
GST return filing has also been smooth although there have been issues over reconciliation, according to some filers.
“As such there have been no glitches, filings have been going on successfully on our platform. It is important to finish all reconciliations on a timely basis. It is a key task for filing the annual return and takes time,” said Archit Gupta, Founder and CEO, Clear.
Bimal Jain, Founder, A2Z Taxcorp also said the GSTR filing system is working properly. “The utility is slow due to high volume and heavy traffic for filing at the last minute. One needs to sit down and properly file the annual return and reconciliation statement. There are some complaints as Form GSTR 9 and GSTR 9C are not properly configured, which leads to mismatch in the inherent tables of GSTR 9,” he said.
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Some assesses and a few tax practitioners have sought an extension in the timeline for filing the returns, by at least one to three months. The Meerut Tax Bar Association has written to the finance ministry seeking an extension in the last date for filing of GSTR 9, GSTR 9C and income tax returns for non-audit category of assessees to March 31, 2023 from the current December 31, 2022.