Fact-Check: Last Date For Filing Income Tax Returns Hasn’t Been Extended

We found no news reports which specify that the filings for the income tax has been extended.

A viral post has claimed that the deadline to file income tax returns (ITR) has been shifted to 31 August.

(Archives of similar claims can be found here and here.)

Is this true?: The Income Tax (IT) Department has mentioned that the due date for electronically filing ITR is 31 July and stated that the extension until 31 August is false.

• The viral circular applies to publishers who are registered with the Press Registrar General of India (PRGI) and is not related to Income Tax Returns.

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What we found: We did a relevant keyword search to find reports or news articles about an extension in the deadline. The date fixed till now is 31 July.

• However, we did not find any reports or updates from the Income Tax department.

• We did come across a post on the IT department on their official X page. It shared a newspaper clipping of Sandesh News, a Gujarati news outlet which also stated that the deadline for the filing of ITR had been extended.

• The department termed it "fake."

It has come to our knowledge that a clipping of @sandeshnews is circulating on social media regarding extension of date of e-filing of ITR. This is FAKE news.

Taxpayers are advised to follow updates from the official website/portal of @IncomeTaxIndia#FactCheck pic.twitter.com/Hs5jk0kF3J

— Income Tax India (@IncomeTaxIndia) July 22, 2024

Similarly, Press Information Bureau's fact-check unit also debunked this claim and stated that the advisory was not for the extension of date of filing ITR.

• It also mentioned that it was a notice from the Office of Press Registrar General of India.

An advisory of Office of Press Registrar General of India shared on social media is being misconstrued as extension of due date for filing ITR#PIBFactCheck

✔️The advisory is NOT related to extension of date of filing ITR.

✔️The due date for filing ITR is 31 July 2024 pic.twitter.com/F4OHwK2d3Y

— PIB Fact Check (@PIBFactCheck) July 30, 2024

To verify further, we also checked the PRGI portal and found the notice which is being circulated with the claim.

This circular notifying publishers about extending the deadline for submitting annual returns has been misinterpreted as an extension for e-filing Income Tax Returns.

Conclusion: No official or verified annoucements have been made for the extension of the deadline of filing of ITR.

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