These ITR filers have only 10 days left to verify their ITRs else ITR invalid

Over 7.28 crore income tax returns (ITR) were filed till July 31, 2024, of which about 5 crore had been filed by July 26, 2024, as per data released by the income tax department on July 27 and August 2, 2024. This means that 2.28 crore (7.28 crore-5 crore) ITRs were filed between July 27 and July 31, 2024. As a result, for the 2.28 crore ITRs filed in the final days of July, the deadline for verifying the ITR falls between August 26 and August 30, 2024. Therefore, if you submitted your ITR between these dates and have not yet verified it, it is important to do so promptly to avoid having to file a late ITR with a penalty.

As per income tax rules, the time limit for e-verification or submission of ITR-V (offline process) is 30 days from the date of filing of the ITR.

As per tax department, The total number of ITRs filed till August 20, 2024 was 7,41,37,596. The data also showed that 7,09,89,014 (about 7.09 crore) ITRs were verified till 6PM, August 20, 2024. This means that about 32 lakh ITRs (7,41,37,596 minus 7,09,89,014=31,48,582) were filed but not verified as of August 20, 2024.

While the total number of verified ITRs as on August 19 may include ITRs filed after July 31 also, however, out of 7.28 crore ITRs filed till July 31, 2024 a minimum of 19 lakh ITRs approximately (7.28 minus 7.09 crore) are yet to be verified.

Verification of ITR is necessary for processing of ITR and getting tax refunds

Referring to the 30-day time limit for verification of a filed ITR, chartered accountant Dr Suresh Surana said, “Such a time-period shall be calculated including the 30th day as per the bare reading of the provisions of the income tax act. The income tax return filed under section 139(1) has to be verified within a period of 30 days from the date of furnishing the ITR. Hence if the ITR is filed on 31st July, 2024, the same shall be verified up to 30th August, 2024.”Chartered accountant Ashish Niraj, partner, A S N & Company, says that in situations where you have filed the ITR online but have used ITR-V (offline process) for verification and this form is submitted or reaches CPC beyond 30 days from the date of filing of ITR, then it will be considered as if you have not filed an ITR. “Hence all consequences of late filing of ITR under the Act shall follow,” he says.If you are due an income tax refund, you won’t get it without filing an income tax return. You could file a belated ITR if you missed filing the ITR by July 31, 2024, or filed the ITR by July 31, 2024, but did not verify it before the 30-day deadline ended. Therefore, if you have filed your ITR, you should verify it before the 30-day deadline ends; otherwise, your effort will go in vain and you may not get the tax refund.

“If an ITR is not verified within this (the 30 day) period, it is considered invalid. This means that any tax refund claims associated with these ITRs will not be processed, and the taxpayer may have to file the ITR again, resulting in a delay in the tax refund process,” says CA Twinkle Jain.

Table showing the deadline for ITR verification for ITR filed on different dates:

Date of ITR filing Verification Deadline

Source: CA (Dr.) Suresh Surana

Non-verification of the submitted ITR within the 30 day-deadline would entail filing a belated ITR and consequences of late filing such as late fees under section 234F of Rs 5,000 (restricted to Rs 1,000 if total income does not exceed Rs 5 lakh). Added to this, you may not be able to choose the old tax regime if you have not verified the ITR filed before the deadline of 30 days and the ITR filing deadline (July 31, 2024) is over.
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