Section 139(5) of the Income Tax Act states that after filing their return, if someone discovers any omission or incorrect statement, taxpayer can furnish a revised return.
At the time of filing our income tax return (ITR) we take the utmost care not to make any kind of mistakes. However, at times it may happen that we make any mistake while filing our ITR at the last minute. These could include mentioning the wrong bank account number or IFSC, forgetting to declare interest income, or claiming the wrong deduction.
However, don't worry if you have made a mistake as the current income tax laws allow you to correct it. "If you have discovered any mistake or error after filing your income tax return (ITR), then you can rectify your mistake or error as allowed under the current income tax laws. Section 139(5) of the Income-Tax Act allows taxpayers to rectify their mistake or error by filing a revised income tax return (ITR)".
This section states that if someone after filing their income tax return (ITR) discovers any omission or incorrect statement, then the taxpayer can furnish a revised return any time before the end of relevant assessment year (AY) or before the completion of assessment for the financial year (FY), whichever is earlier. Assessment year is the year immediately following the financial year for which the return is filed.
So, if you have made a mistake in your ITR, here is how you can file a revised income tax return.
What is a revised Income Tax return?
Revised Income Tax return allows you to rectify the error or omission of facts made at the time of filing your original ITR. Filing a revised Income Tax return simply means filing your return again but this time with the correct information. When filing a revised Income Tax return you need to mention details of the original return.
Who can file it?
Every assessee who has filed his/her Income Tax return (ITR) is entitled to revise it under section 139(5) to provide correct information to the income tax department. Earlier, only those taxpayers who had filed Income Tax return (ITR) before the expiry of the deadline were allowed to revise their returns. Taxpayers who had filed belated returns, i.e., after the expiry of original deadline to file Income Tax return (ITR) were not allowed to revise it. However, now, even belated returns now be revised.
Last date to file revised Income Tax return (ITR)
Earlier, tax laws allowed taxpayers to file revised Income Tax return (ITR) till one year after the expiry of the assessment year. This meant that taxpayers had two years from the end of the relevant financial year (the FY for which the return was filed) to correct the mistake or error and file a revised Income Tax return (ITR). But the time limit to file a revised Income Tax return (ITR) was reduced last year.
"Starting from last financial year, the time limit to revise the income tax return (ITR) has been reduced to, before the end of relevant assessment year or before the completion of assessment for the financial year, whichever is earlier. According to current income tax laws, you now only have time till the completion of the relevant assessment year to rectify your mistake.” Thus, once you have filed Income Tax Return (ITR) for financial year (FY) 2018-19, you have time till March 31, 2020 to correct your mistake, if any.
How to file revised ITR
The process of filing a revised income tax return (ITR) is the same as filing an original one. However, while filing a revised ITR, you are required to file it under section 139(5) of the Income-tax Act. You are required to select option '17 - Revised u/s 139(5)' in the 'return filed under' column. The income tax return (ITR) form will additionally ask you for details of the original income tax return (ITR), i.e. receipt number and date of filing of original income tax return (ITR).
How many times you can file a revised income tax return (ITR)
There is no limit for the number of times you can file a revised income tax return (ITR). Remember, every time you file a revised income tax return (ITR), you are required to provide details of your original income tax return (ITR). Revising your income tax return is a chance for you to rectify your mistake or error, but one should avoid misuse of this facility and ensure utmost care while filing the original income tax return.
Things to remember
Once you have filed your revised income tax return (ITR), ensure that you have verified the same. The income tax department will not accept your revised income tax return, unless it is verified by you. To verify your revised income tax return, you can use any of the 6 methods available to verify your ITR, i.e., e-verification by using electronic methods such as Aadhaar, OTP, EVC through net-banking or via physical verification by sending signed copy of ITR-V (Acknowledgement Receipt ) to CPC, Bangalore.
"Once the scrutiny assessment of your income tax return (ITR) is completed u/s 143(3) of the Income-Tax Act by the assessing officer for the financial year, then you cannot file a revised income tax return (ITR)."
"As a taxpayer you must remember that the deadline to rectify the mistake or error in your income tax return (ITR) and to file belated return (ITR) is same, i.e. March 31st of the relevant assessment year. Therefore, if you file a belated return on March 31st, 2020 for the FY 2018-19 (AY 2019-20) you will miss out the chance to rectify the mistake done by you, if any, in your ITR."
Know about us - https://thetaxsupport.com
You can find more articles on at https://thetaxsupport.com/blog
You can find tutorial videos on at https://www.youtube.com/c/vipinsanger
Comments