Late filing fee and penalty on delay in filing Income Tax return

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Late filing fee is going to be a reality now under Income tax. Until now even if you filed your return late, there was no mandatory late filing fee levied on your delay filing of returns.
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However this has changed  from assessment year 2018-19 (financial year 2017-18) and now you have to pay late filing fee if you do not file your return within due date.
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In order to make sure that people file their return on time, section 234F is introduced to levy late filing filing fee on assessee who do not file returns on time.
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Minimum late filing is Rs. 1,000 and maximum is Rs. 10,000.

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Who need to pay late filing fee on late filing of income tax return?

Every assessee who file his return after due date has to pay late filing fee, regardless of his tax liability. However amount of late filing fee depends on amount of total taxable income.
Fee structure depends on total income of tax payer.
For example, a taxpayer with total income below Rs. 5 lakhs has to pay Rs. 1,000 and others have to pay upto Rs. 10,000.
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How much late filing will be charged on returns filed late?

The fee depends on quantum of total income and also on date the return is filed.
If return is filed after due data but before 31st December, then late filing fee will be Rs. 5,000 otherwise late filing fee will be Rs. 10,000
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If you file your retrun after December then you have to pay 10,000 and if if you file your return before 31 December but after due date (31 July) then late filing fee will be Rs. 5,000.
However, if your total income is below Rs. 5 lakhs then maximum late filing fee will Rs. 1,000.
For your reference Due dates as per income tax are given below.
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Particulars	Due Date
Due date if books of accounts are audited	30 September
Due date if books of accounts are not audited	31 July
Due if section 92E applicable	30 November

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Below is the late fee you have to pay.
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Late filing date	Fee to be paid
Return filed after Due date but before 31 December of year	5,000
Return filed after 31 December	10,000
If total income does not exceed 5 lakhs during the year	1,000

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How to pay late filing fee?

You have to use tax payment form for paying fee. In challan you can see the penalty and fee columns, fill amount in those columns and pay the amount.
As of now it works even if we pay interest or penalty along with tax, I believe same should continue for late fee.
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How to avoid late filing fee?

You cannot avoid late filing fee. You can avoid penalty because penalties can be removed, there is no provision to waive late filing fee by assessing officer.
The only way to avoid late filing fee is by filing your return on time.

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Conclusion

It is advised that you file your returns on time to avoid any kind of fee or penalty.
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Your tax liability will increase if you are not filing your IT returns on time.