The central government collects income tax from all people on their earnings. In this, people earning up to Rs 7 lakh have been kept out of the scope of tax by the government. They do not have to pay income tax, but do have to file ITR.
If you do not deposit income tax and also do not file ITR, will you have to go to jail or will you be prosecuted under any section of income tax? Here we are telling you about it in detail. We will also tell you what other difficulties you will have to face.
Punishment for delay in depositing TDS
If a person delays in depositing TDS, then prosecution action is taken against him under Section 276B of the Income Tax Act. In this, a case is filed in the court by the Income Tax Department and upon receiving the decision, you may have to pay interest and penalty along with TDS. Along with this, you may also have to go to jail.
This punishment for deliberate income tax evasion
If a person deliberately hides his income and does not pay tax as per the income, then it is considered as deliberate evasion in the language of income tax. In such a situation, action is taken under Section 276C of Income Tax, which has provisions for fine and even jail.
This action is taken after filing ITR
If there is a delay in filing ITR or you do not file ITR at all, then action is taken under Section 276CC of the Income Tax Act 1961, in which penalty is imposed on the defaulters.
Rules may change soon
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had said in her 2024 budget speech that there is a provision for punishment in some sections of the Income Act, it will be reduced. The intention behind this is to reduce the increasing number of cases related to ITR. Also, for this, CBDT has formed a review panel, for which opinion has been sought from the people.
