ITR Due Dates & Penalties

Miss the first date and two separate charges start. A fee under section 234F, which is fixed. And interest under section 234A, which is not. Most people quote the fee and forget the interest, which is usually the larger number.

Every ITR deadline and what it costs to miss

Dates are as published by the Income Tax Department and tracked by us as of 17 August 2026. Deadlines are sometimes extended by circular during the filing season, so check the department’s portal before you rely on a date that is close.

What is the late filing fee under 234F?

The fee is ₹5,000 where the return is furnished after the due date. If total income does not exceed ₹5,00,000, the fee cannot exceed ₹1,000.

That is the whole of section 234F. It does not scale with how late you are, and it does not scale with the tax due. It is a flat charge for filing after the date in section 139(1).

What is the interest under 234A, 234B and 234C?

Section 234A charges interest at 1% per month, or part of a month, on unpaid tax. It runs from the day after the due date until you furnish the return. A part of a month counts as a full month, so filing on the first of a month costs the same as filing on the last.

Section 234B charges interest where advance tax paid falls short of what was due. Section 234C charges interest where the instalments were paid late, measured against the schedule in the table above. The instalment targets are 15% by 15 June, 45% by 15 September, 75% by 15 December and 100% by 15 March.

There is an important relief in 234A. If the whole tax liability, including self-assessment tax, was paid before the due date, no interest is charged even where the return is filed late. Interest attaches to unpaid tax, not to the delay itself.

The cost that is not a penalty at all

File late and you lose the right to carry forward most losses. A capital loss or a business loss that could have sheltered next year’s income is simply gone. On a bad market year, that is worth many times the ₹5,000.

A belated return also delays a refund, and it narrows what you can fix later. Once 31 December passes, the only route left is an updated return, which requires additional tax on top of the tax and interest you already owe.

So the honest summary is this. The ₹5,000 fee gets the headlines. The interest, the lost losses and the delayed refund are what the delay actually costs.

How to avoid the interest entirely

Pay the tax before the due date, even if the return is not ready. Section 234A interest applies to unpaid tax, so clearing the liability removes it.

For advance tax, the instalment schedule is the thing to work to. Estimate your income once a quarter and pay to the cumulative target. Our advance tax calculator runs the schedule, and the income tax calculator gives you the annual figure to work from. If you have not chosen a regime yet, compare with the old versus new regime calculator, and if you sold assets during the year use the capital gains calculator before you estimate.