“234F. (1) Without prejudice to the provisions of this Act, where a person required to furnish a return of income under section 139, fails to do so within the time prescribed in sub-section (1) of said section, he shall pay, by way of fee, a sum of,— (a) five thousand rupees, if the return is furnished on or before the 31st day of December of the assessment year; (b) ten thousand rupees in any other case: Provided that if the total income of the person does not exceed five lakh rupees, the fee payable under this section shall not exceed one thousand rupees. (2) The provisions of this section shall apply in respect of return of income required to be furnished for the assessment year commencing on or after the 1st day of April, 2018.”
As can be seen above, the penalty provision is not applicable for returns of AY 2016-17. It is applicable for returns of AY 2018-19 or later years.
23 February 2017
For Assessment 2016-17, the belated return can be filed up to 31st March 2018 and subsequent to it, the assessing Officer has the discretion to levy penalty.
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