Deadline for filing tax returns extended till September 7

The Finance Ministry on Wednesday said the last date for filing income tax returns has been extended till September 7, thus extending the earlier deadline of August 31.

"Due date for filing Income Tax return extended till September 7, 2015," the finance ministry tweeted.

The last date for filing had already been extended earlier to August 31 from the usual deadline of July 31 .

The income tax department had, in June, notified a new set of income tax return (ITR) forms for assessment year 2015-16, after the government decided to modify the new forms following concerns raised over them.

The Central Board of Direct Taxes had notified new norms and the attendant forms that, among other issues, requires an assessee to furnish all bank details, accounts opened or closed in the year with the closing balance, as also the sources of funds for expenses in an overseas travel.

While the purpose of asking details relating to foreign travel was in order to tackle black money, these details are now not required in ITR-1 or ITR-4S which is filed by majority of individual taxpayers.

The process of electronic filing has also been made simpler over the years. During the last fiscal, 3.41 crore returns were filed electronically which constituted 87 percent of the all the returns.