Financial Year (FY) And Assessment Year (AY)

The financial year is the period between 1 April and 31 March in which you earn an income. Assessment year is the following year in which this income is assessed and taxed.Income is earned in FY and taxes on that income is paid in AY.

Financial year (FY) in Hindi is called वित्तीय वर्ष and assessment year (AY) in Hindi is called निर्धारण वर्ष.

Both AY and FY begin on the 1st of April and end on the 31st of March.

Since income for any particular financial year is evaluated and taxed in the assessment year, income tax return forms have AY.

Income is earned in a financial year but cannot be taxed before it is earned, hence it has to be evaluated and taxed after the financial year ends. Hence, taxpayers have to select AY while filing their income tax returns.

Due date of filing income tax return for FY 2017-18(AY 2018-19) is :

31 July 2018 for Individuals
30 September 2018 for Businesses

(This is income tax return for the financial year 2017-18. Applicable for income earned from April 1st, 2017 to March 31st, 2018).