Income Tax SFT return filing 2023: Given that some filers experienced difficulties filing SFT due to heavy traffic on the reporting portal. So the Income Tax Department has given some relaxation and provided a couple of more days for filing SFT (Statement of Financial Transaction) returns.
The Income Tax Department has tweeted regarding the same, “SFT filers may please note: Due to heavy traffic on the reporting portal, some filers may have encountered difficulties in filing SFT returns. It is informed that the functionality for filing of SFT returns will remain open for a couple of days more to enable smooth filing of SFT returns”.
The deadline for submitting a Statement of Financial Transactions (SFT) for FY 2022–2023 has been extended to May 31st, 2023.
The Income Tax Department states that there may be a penalty of up to Rs. 1000 for each day of default if an SFT is not filed. Penalties may also apply if the statements are not filed or are filed incorrectly.
To reveal high-value transactions completed by their clients in 2022–2023, banks, foreign exchange dealers, and other reporting institutions must file SFT returns.
Specific institutions are obliged by SFT to provide information about specific financial transactions or any reportable accounts they registered, recorded, or maintained during the year.
The Income Tax Department monitors every individual’s high-value transactions through SFT.
Foreign exchange dealers, banks, sub-registrars, NBFCs, post offices, issuers of bonds/debentures, trustees of mutual funds, and businesses that pay dividends or buy back shares are among the reporting entities that are required to file SFT filings with tax authorities.
Earlier, many people had complained about the crash of the reporting portal.
“As per the provision of rule 114E of the income tax rules read with section 285BA of the income tax act, a reporting entity is required to upload SFT 61A up to 31st May 2023, but the reporting site is not working. Please provide relaxation as the delay occurred because of failure at the department’s end”, a user wrote to the Income Tax Department yesterday requesting to allow some relaxation.
The tax agency tweeted in response to the user, “Due to excessive usage on the reporting system, there may be a little delay. Though, our staff is working on it, please try on a stable network. You can reach our helpdesk at 1800 103 4215 if you have any specific questions or problems.
Even though they tried submitting SFT with various networks, some customers even stated that the reporting portal has been down for the past three days.
