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Business Desk – Income Tax Return i.e. ITR Filing Deadline is approaching. If your income comes from business or profession and tax audit of your accounts is not necessary, then it is necessary for you to file ITR by 31 August 2026.

In such a situation, if you are not able to file the return by this date then there is no need to panic. The government provides an opportunity to file Belated ITR, but for this you may have to pay Late Fee and in some cases interest also.

For which taxpayers is August 31 the last date?

The ITR deadline of August 31 does not apply to all taxpayers. This is mainly for those people whose income comes from business or profession and whose accounts are not required to be tax audited under the Income Tax Act. In these cases forms like ITR-3, ITR-4, ITR-5 or ITR-7 may be applicable depending on the income and situation.

Therefore, it is not right to file ITR only after seeing the date of 31st August. First it is important to see what is your income category, whether Tax Audit is applicable on your accounts or not and which ITR Form is right for you.

When will tax audit takers have to file ITR?

Taxpayers whose accounts require tax audit usually get more time to file ITR. In such cases, the deadline for ITR filing may be till 31 October 2026. Whereas in cases to Transfer Pricing, the deadline for filing ITR can generally be till 30 November 2026. Therefore, the same deadline does not apply to every taxpayer.

What will happen if ITR is not filed by 31st August?

If August 31, 2026 is the last date for you to file ITR and you are not able to file the return on time, then you can file Belated Return later. Normally Belated ITR for Assessment Year 2026-27 can be filed till December 31, 2026 or before completion of assessment, whichever is earlier.

However, if you file ITR after the deadline, you may have to pay Late Filing Fee. This means that late filing of returns may result in additional financial burden.

How much late fee will have to be paid?

If your total income is more than Rs 5 lakh, then a maximum late fee of Rs 5,000 can be imposed on Belated ITR. Whereas for taxpayers whose total income is up to Rs 5 lakh, the late fee can be a maximum of Rs 1,000. So if your ITR filing deadline is 31st August, it would be better to file the return on time instead of waiting for the last date.

If tax is due, interest may also have to be paid.

Apart from Late Fee, if you have Tax Liability i.e. tax outstanding, you may also have to pay interest due to delay. Under Section 234A of the Income Tax Act, interest can be charged at the rate of 1% for every month or part of the month on the outstanding tax.

This means that for taxpayers whose tax is already due, delay in ITR filing may prove more costly. Therefore, it is better to check your Income, Tax Liability and applicable ITR Form and file the return within the deadline.