I-T Dept. launches initiative named 'Jhatpat Processing' for filing income tax returns

The I-T Department has launched an initiative named 'Jhatpat Processing' for filing income tax returns to ease the income tax return filing experience for tax payers. So much so, the Department took to Twitter to announce that it has launched the new feature. The last date to file income tax returns (ITR) for the financial year 2019-20 (the assessment year 2020-21) is December 31, 2020.

  In a statement, the I-T Department said that the feature has already been started for ITR-1 and 4 forms and taxpayers can file their I-T returns for AY 2020-21 by visiting the e-filing website namely incometaxindiaefiling.gov.in.  

The 'Jhatpat processing' feature will only be applicable to taxpayers whose ITRs have been verified and bank accounts are pre-validated. Besides, there are no arrears or income discrepancy or tax deducted at source (TDS) or challan mismatch.

The Central Board of Direct Taxed (CBDT) had extended the last date for filing ITR for FY 2019-20 (AY2020-21) to December 31 in view of the COVID-19 pandemic. The CBDT said the deadlines have been extended in order to provide more time to taxpayers for furnishing of Income Tax Returns.

Usually, taxpayers are supposed to file ITR by July 31, but an exception was made this year due to the pandemic. Earlier in May, the government had extended the deadline from July 31 to November 30 to give compliance relief to taxpayers. In October, it was further extended to December 31, 2020. For taxpayers whose accounts need to be audited, the ITR filing deadline has been extended for two more months till January 31, 2021.

Taxpayers can file ITR online through e-filing. An independent portal has been created by the I-T department for e-filing of income tax returns. Some private entities have also been registered by the I-T Department which allow e-filing through their websites. The tax return is also necessary to claim a refund of any additional amount that might have been deducted at source (TDS) and deposited with the income-tax department