August 31: By now, you must have filed your income tax returns (ITR) because today is the last day, if you still haven't it is better you hurry up and do it just now. The August 31 deadline to file your ITR is for salaried individuals and people having professional income that is not required to be audited. The government extended the deadline from July 31 to August 31 for the convenience of the taxpayers. If you cross this date, you will have to pay a penalty. Know How to File

Individuals, earning between Rs 2.5 lacs to 5 lacs will have to pay 0-5 percent tax for different age groups while 20 percent tax will be applicable for individuals having an income of Rs 5 lacs to 10 lacs. It must be noted that no tax will be levied for people with income less than 2,50,000. ITR Filing Last Day Today: Income Tax Returns Rise 60% Till Now, Crosses 5 Crore Filings

Below are few reasons why you should file your ITR before the day ends today

1) Penalty: If your salary is less than Rs 5 lakh, you will have to pay a penalty of Rs 1,000, for those having income of more than Rs 5 lakh, belated return fee will be Rs 5,000 if you file it before December 31. A penalty of Rs 10,000 will be imposed on those who will file it after December 31.

2) Loan Application: If you are planning to take a loan in the coming few months, then you will need your ITR process to be completed.

3) Visa application: If you have plans of travelling abroad, then you may be required to furnish your ITR during the time of visa application. So finish the filing process and avoid any hassles which you may face.

4) More time to Revise Your ITR: According to revised income tax rules, a taxpayer can revise his return for FY2017-18 before March 31, 2019. So the earlier you file, you will get more time for revising ITR later.

5) Delayed Processing of Refunds: Once you have filed your returns and the verification process is also completed, then the Central Processing Centre, Bangalore, of the Income Tax Department processes the income tax return. After which, if you have any tax refund, it is determined. So if you miss today's ITR deadline, then processing of refunds will get delayed.

6) No carry forward of losses: If you miss the deadline to file your ITR, then the taxpayer will not be allowed to carry forward any loss under the head "profits and gains of business or profession" or "capital gains".

According to a Times of India report, ITR filed this year till Thursday evening has hit the five-crore mark, which is a 60 percent rise as compared to a year ago. More than 20 lakh returns were filed on Thursday itself and the numbers are expected to rise because there will be several people who may have kept it for the last day.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Aug 31, 2018 01:20 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).