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To facilitate senior citizens and those with income below Rs. 5 lakh to file tax returns for 2016-17, the Income-tax office department declared to remain open until midnight on Saturday. Notably, the last date of filing Income Tax Returns (ITRs) was extended from July 31 to August 5 in view of difficulties faced by taxpayers.
“In order to facilitate the manual filing of returns on August 5, 2017, being a Saturday, the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has directed that necessary arrangements be made for receiving Income Tax Returns up to midnight in all Income Tax Offices throughout the country,” a finance ministry statement said.
E-filing of ITR is mandatory for all individuals except those whose income is less than Rs. 5 lakh per annum and who are above 80 years of age. Individuals with age 80 years or more, an individual or HUF whose income does not exceed Rs. 5 lakh and who has not claimed any refund in the return of income, have an option to file ITR-1 (Sahaj) or ITR-4 (Sugam) in paper form.