ITR 2023: How To Fix A Mistake In Your Income Tax Return

Individuals often file their tax returns under a lot of pressure. This is especially acute when there is a last-minute rush to beat the deadline for filing the tax return. One of the consequences of such a situation is that some information is missed in the tax return, or it could be that some details are entered incorrectly.

This is not a big cause for worry because the individual has the option to rectify this by filing a revised return.

A revised return can be filed under Section 139(5) of the Income Tax Act, and this can be used to rectify any mistakes that have been made or if some income has been missed in the original return.

One basic factor that needs to be met before a revised return is filed is that there has to be a return that has been filed. The return that has been filed can even be a belated return, which means that the return was filed after the due date, and even this is eligible for a revised return. The revised return will then be considered the actual final return, which will override the earlier return, so this also needs to be filed carefully so that it reflects the correct situation.

There is a specific time period during which a revised return can be filed.

This has to be filed before Dec. 31, 2023, for the current filing cycle or before an assessment has been completed for the taxpayer, whichever is earlier. This is crucial because once an assessment is complete and the tax officer finds some income that has been missed and initiates proceedings, a revised return cannot be filed saying that this was missed by mistake.

This is the reason why one has to file the revised return as quickly as possible once the information that was missed or is incorrect has come to the attention of the taxpayer.

It is required that the taxpayer take a close look at the various details that have been mentioned in the income tax return that they have filed. There are lots of times when details are missed. This could be some bank account that has some receipts that have not been mentioned, or it could be some mutual funds or shares sold that have not been mentioned. In other cases, there might be details that are wrongly mentioned, like the figures being calculated improperly for dividends because they have not been grossed up due to a tax deduction at source on them.

A similar situation could be the case with interest, where some tax is deducted. It is not necessary that all the cases have a negative impact on the taxpayer. Sometimes they even forget to claim a benefit, like, for example, if there is a donation made but they did not remember it at the time of filing the return, or it could be that they did not know a particular investment had a tax deduction and they failed to claim it. 

So, it can be either of these situations that need to be considered.

In the event that there is an additional tax that crops up in the workings, this will need to be paid, or if there is a refund, this can be claimed.

The main point is that the revised return will help the taxpayer ensure that the details that they have mentioned are correct. There are any number of times that the returns can be revised as long as the eligible conditions are met, so one has to make use of the facility that has been given.

Arnav Pandya is the founder of Moneyeduschool.

The views expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of BQ Prime or its editorial team.