I-T dept says delayed SFT filing attracts penalty; check details here

The Income Tax (I-T) department asked the entities under the obligation to file a statement of financial transactions (STF) to submit a report latest by May 31 to avoid penalty.

Taking to Twitter, the tax department wrote, "Kind Attention SFT filers! Last date to file Statement of Financial Transactions (SFT) for FY 2022-23 is May 31st, 2023." It further added, "Delay in filing SFT may entail penalty upto ₹1000 for each day of default. Non-filing or filing inaccurate statement may also lead to levy of penalty. Please file your SFT within the due date."

According to a report in LiveMint, STF is an annual report that entities like banks, non-bank lenders, cooperative banks, and companies issuing a dividend have to file with the I-T department regarding the transactions done above their specified monetary threshold.

The report also added that certain capital market players and foreign exchange dealers are also required to file the annual report. It is part of the reporting requirement under the I-T Act, which enables the authority to oversee economic activity.

The report citing experts said that the information collected from SFT will help the I-T department to pre-fill the tax return form of assessees and encourage voluntary compliance. It also uses information from third parties to check with assessees whether their reported income has any inaccuracies, under the e-verification scheme. Tax payers now have the option to update their tax returns to account for any amount of tax that was not included in the reported income.