Missed the 31 July ITR deadline? Here is what a belated return costs
The filing deadline for non-audit taxpayers has passed. You can still file a belated return until 31 December, with a late fee and interest.
Krish Dalal
What this means for you
File now rather than in December. On ₹40,000 of unpaid tax, Section 234A interest adds about ₹400 a month, so five months of delay costs roughly ₹2,000 on top of the ₹5,000 late fee. If you are due a refund instead, there is no interest penalty, but every week you wait is a week the government holds your money. Check which regime you should have picked before you file, because the choice is locked once the belated return goes in.
Check old vs new regime before you fileOpens with these numbers already filled in. Change any of them to match your own.
The due date for filing income tax returns for FY 2025-26, for individuals whose accounts do not require audit, was 31 July 2026. If you missed it, the return is not closed to you, but it now costs more.
A belated return can be filed until 31 December 2026 under Section 139(4). The late fee under Section 234F is ₹5,000, reduced to ₹1,000 if your total income is under ₹5 lakh. Interest under Section 234A runs at 1 percent per month on any unpaid tax.
The costs that are easier to miss are the ones that are not fees. File late and you cannot carry forward capital losses to set against future gains, and any refund owed to you earns less interest because it is calculated from the filing date rather than the original due date.
If you are owed a refund and have no tax outstanding, the late fee still applies but the interest does not, so filing sooner simply gets your own money back faster.
Sources
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