New Delhi, July 16 :    New Delhi, July 16:  The government today extended till August 31 the last date for bulk filing of income tax returns by companies on behalf of their salaried employees. A notification to this effect will be issued shortly. The government announced the scheme for bulk filing of the returns of salaried employees for the year 2002 on June 24 under section 139(1a) of the Income Tax Act. Individual taxpayers will still have to file their tax returns by July 31. The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) decided to extend the date from July 31 to August 31 for the bulk filing of IT returns because the scheme was notified late. 'Eligible employers can now file bulk returns in electronic format together with the paper returns of their willing and eligible employees with the designated assessing officers latest by August 31, 2002,' said a CBDT release here today. CBDT has said that adequate time is not available to enable eligible employees to take full advantage of the new scheme. The decision to extend the last date comes in the wake of government's commitment to simplify tax filing procedures and mop up more revenues from direct taxes. Earlier, the CBDT came up with special schemes to encourage potential tax payers to file return through the simplified Saral form and expedite the process of allotting permanent account numbers (PAN).