A social media post asserts that the e-filing Income Tax Returns deadline has been extended to 31 August 2024. These posts are accompanied by a circular allegedly issued by the ‘Office of the Press Registrar General of India,’ mentioning the extension for filing the annual statement (here & here). In this article, we fact-check the claim made in the post.
Claim: The circular related to the extension of the last date for e-filing Income Tax Returns states that the deadline has been extended to 31 August 2024.
Fact: The Income Tax Department has explicitly stated that the deadline for e-filing ITR is 31 July 2024. The department has clarified that any news about an extension to 31 August 2024 is false. Additionally, the viral circular pertains to publishers registered with PRGI, it has nothing to do with the Income Tax Returns. Hence, the claim made in the post is FALSE.
The current deadline for e-filing Income Tax Returns is 31 July 2024, and there have been no changes to this date. The Income Tax Department has reiterated this in response to the spread of fake news.
Earlier, a Bengali news article reported that the deadline for e-filing Income Tax Returns had been extended to 31 August 2024. This claim went viral on social media. In response, the Income Tax Department stated that the news about the deadline extension to 31 August 2024, is fake. They reiterated that the last date to file ITR for FY 2023-24 remains 31 July 2024.
As far as the viral circular is concerned, it clearly states that the Deputy Press Registrar General issued it. The circular also mentions that it is a follow-up to a previous advisory. Taking this as a cue, a further search on the Press Registrar General of India’s portal led us to the initial circular, for which two continuation circulars were issued (here & here).
According to the original circular, publishers whose periodicals are registered with PRGI are advised to file the Annual Statement online through the Press Sewa Portal. The initial deadline for filing was set for 31 May 2024. Subsequently, two additional circulars were issued, extending the deadline for filing the annual statement.
The currently viral circular is one of those two follow-up circulars. This indicates that the circular related to PRGI informing publishers about the extension of the deadline for filing annual returns has been misconstrued as an extension of the deadline for e-filing Income Tax Returns.
To sum up, the deadline for e-filing ITR is 31 July 2024. The viral circular pertains to publishers registered with PRGI.
