41% of income taxpayers surveyed yet to file IT return; 22% say difficult to file it by July 31st deadline; About 10 % faced technical glitches

July 28, 2022, New Delhi: As the deadline for filing income tax returns (ITR) for fiscal year 2021-22 by July 31, 2022, looms, the latest LocalCircles survey has found that 41% of the respondents are uncertain about being able to comply with the government directives. However, on the brighter side, 59% respondents stated that they already filed their tax returns, which is a considerable improvement on the survey findings from a week ago on July 20th.

In the earlier survey, LocalCircles found that 54 percent of the respondents were yet to comply with the requirement to file tax returns by this month's end, of which 37 percent remained uncertain if they will be able to meet the deadline. Just 46 percent of the taxpayers had filed their returns.

41% of income taxpayers surveyed yet to file IT return; 22% of them say difficult to file FY 21-22 return by July 31st

The new survey which asked individual income tax payers, “how are you positioned to be able to file your individual income tax return for FY 2021-22 by the current deadline of July 31st” has revealed that 59% out of 11,081 respondents had filed their ITR, while another 9% indicated that they would be able to do so in the next few days. However, 13% respondents stated that it would require “significant effort” to meet the deadline, 9% admitted that it would be impossible to meet the deadline, which the government has indicated would not be changed. Of those still striving to file their ITR, 10% of respondents complained of “difficulty in filing” but expressed keenness to do so.

Compared to the July 20th survey there is an increasing number – 10% in the latest survey as against 4%, who complained of difficulty in filing their returns. On the positive side, more taxpayers have filed their ITR.

The Income Tax department through a tweet informed the public that “more than 3.4 crore ITRs for AY 2022-23 have been filed on e-Filing portal till 26th July, 2022. The due date to file ITR for AY 2022-23 is 31st July, 2022. We urge you to file your ITR at the earliest, if not filed as yet. #FileNow!". The income tax department and government officials have been urging taxpayers to file their returns on time to avoid inconvenience while also warning that there is going to be no extension of the deadline.

Percentage of citizens who have filed their IT return rises from 46% to 59% while finding it difficult to file by July 31st reduce from 37% to 22%

During the Covid pandemic, the government had extended the deadline for filing ITRs for two consecutive fiscal years to ease taxpayers’ hardship. In the last fiscal year (2020-21), the filing date was extended till December 31, 2021. The government this year has warned that those who will miss the July 31 deadline for filing their returns will have to pay fine-cum-late fee of Rs.5,000 if their taxable income is more than Rs.5 lakh, and Rs.1,000 if the taxable income is less than Rs.5 lakh.

Percentage of citizens who tried but had difficulty in filing their income tax return rose from 4% last week to 10% this week

In summary, the latest LocalCircles survey has revealed that 41% taxpayers are still to file their tax returns of which 10% have tried but faced difficulty in doing so. The percentage of those wanting to but failing to file their tax returns on the government portal has gone up from 4% during the earlier survey to 10%. In addition, 9% respondents have admitted that they would not be able to meet the ITR filing deadline and 13% have said that it will be significant effort filing it by July 31st.

LocalCircles will escalate the findings of this survey to CBDT for their awareness and consideration.