Section 234F - Fee for default in furnishing return of income

Late return fee: fixed penalty for delayed income-tax returns, reduced for lower-income taxpayers and applicable to recent assessment years.

Section 234F imposes a statutory fee for failure to furnish a return of income within the time prescribed under section 139, applying a fixed late-filing fee while capping a reduced fee where the taxpayer's total income does not exceed a specified lower threshold; the provision applies to returns for assessment years from the stated effective assessment year and was introduced and later substituted by finance legislation altering the fee structure and temporal filing distinctions.