The due date for filing income tax returns (ITR) for FY20202-21 ended on December 31, 2021. Individuals who have not yet filed their ITR will have to pay a late fee at the time of filing a belated ITR.

People with taxable income above Rs 5 lakh will have to pay a penalty of Rs 5,000 for filing ITR after the due date. The penalty amount is Rs 1,000 for those with taxable income below Rs 5,00,000.

But there are some individuals who can file their income tax without a penalty even after the due date.

WHO CAN FILE ITR AFTER DUE DATE WITHOUT LATE FEE?

Income tax laws state that people with gross total income below the basic exemption limit will not have to pay a late fee for filing ITR beyond the due date.

The basic exemption limit applicable to an individual depends on the tax regime. Under the new regime, where there are no common exemptions, the basic exemption limit is Rs 2.5 lakh irrespective of age.

It may be noted that under the old tax regime, the basic exemption limit for resident individuals below 60 years is Rs 2.5 lakh and it is Rs 3 lakh for individuals above 60 years but below 80 years. The basic exemption limit for citizens above the age of 80 years is Rs 5 lakh.

Therefore, if these terms apply to an individual, he or she will be able to file ITR without a late fee even after the due date.

CONDITIONS APPLY

However, there are certain exceptions even for individuals who fit the basic exemption limit criteria. Certain individuals are required to mandatorily file ITR even if the gross total income is lower than the basic exemption limit.

For instance, individuals who fall under the seventh proviso of Section 139(1) will have to pay a late fee even if their gross total income is lower than the basic exemption limit.

1) Those who have deposited an amount or aggregate of amounts exceeding Rs 1 crore or more in one or more accounts maintained with a bank or co-operative bank fall under the above-mentioned category.

2) Those who have incurred an expenditure of an amount or aggregate of amounts exceeding Rs 2 lakh for them or any other person for travel to a foreign country also fall under the category

3) Those who have incurred expenditure of an amount or aggregate of amounts exceeding Rs 1 lakh towards electricity consumption fall under the category as well.

The other exception is when a taxpayer owns foreign assets such as stocks of a foreign company. Simply put, if your gross total income is below the basic income threshold but you have income from foreign assets, then you are required to pay a penalty for late ITR filing.