CLAIM
A notification is being circulated on social media which claims that the government has extended the deadline for filing of income tax returns (ITRs) for those taxpayers who are required to file their returns along with audit reports from 30 September to 15 October.
The notification, which claims to be from the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT), is dated 24 September and signed by Rajarajeswari R, who, according to the notification, is the Under Secretary to the Government of India.
WHAT IS THE TRUTH?
This notification doing the rounds is fake and the official Twitter handle of the Income Tax department has issued a clarification regarding it.
WHAT WE FOUND
The Quint found a tweet from the official Twitter handle of the Income Tax department, wherein it issued a clarification that the copy of the notification is fake.
Further, on conducting a reverse search on the image being circulated, we found a photo of notification from September 2018 on a website called KnowYourGST, which made the exact same statements, except that the year on the letter was 2018 in all the places.
On searching for the statements made in this notification from 2018, we came across a tweet by the Income Tax department in 2018, which confirmed that the deadline had indeed been extended at the time. The tweet too, had been uploaded on the same date as the letter was dated, 24 September.
On searching for this notification on government websites, we came across the same letter on https://www.incometaxindiaefiling.gov.in, which confirmed that the letter with the statement that the deadline for filing of Income Tax Returns and audit reports had been extended to 15 October 2018, was in fact genuine.
An official in CBDT confirmed to The Quint that Rajarajewari R is indeed the Under Secretary (ITA.II), CBDT.
Therefore, it is clear that a notification which was issued in 2018 has been photoshopped to make it seem like it is dated 2019 and is being circulated on social media now.
However, on 26 September, the Income Tax department took to Twitter and stated that the CBDT has decided to extend the last date of filing of ITRs and tax audit reports from 30 September to 31 October.
Earlier too, in August, a post was being widely circulated on social media pertaining to the purported extension of the due date for filing of Income Tax Returns (ITR), creating confusion among the taxpayers. It claimed that the due date for filing returns had been extended from 31 August to 30 September.
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