A notification dated 14 September attributed to the Ministry of Finance and the Central Board of Direct Taxes has gone viral on social media.
The notice claimed that the last date of filing the income tax returns has been extended to 30 September, which was initially due on 15 September.
What we found: At first, we ran a reverse image search on the image which led us to a press release by the Ministry of Finance dated 15 September.
It noted that the due date for filing of Income Tax Returns (ITRs) was originally due on 31 July and was extended to 15 September.
It read that the Central Board of Direct Taxes had decided to further extend the due date for filing these ITRs from 15 September to 16 September.
We, then, checked the social media handles of the Income Tax department and found that it had debunked the viral claim on 14 September.
It shared the image of the viral notification and noted that it was 'fake.'
Additionally, the viral notice falsely claimed that the ITR filing was due on 15 September, however, it was extended from 31 July (the original date of filing.)
At the time of writing this article, the IT department has not announced any further extension of the ITR filing deadline beyond 16 September.
Conclusion: A fake notice has gone viral on social media with users falsely claiming that the deadline for filing the ITR has been extended to 30 September.
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