Speed Post News Network
New Delhi : In view of the challenges facing the taxpayers in meeting the statutory and regulatory compliances due to the outbreak of COVID-19, the Government brought the Taxation and Other Laws (Relaxation of Certain Provisions) Ordinance, 2020 (‘the Ordinance’) on March 31, 2020, which, inter alia, extended various time limits. The Ordinance has since been replaced by the Taxation and Other Laws (Relaxation and Amendment of Certain Provisions) Act.
The Government issued a Notification on June 24, 2020, under the Ordinance which, inter alia, extended the due date for all Income Tax Returns for the FY 2019-20 (AY 2020-21) to November 30, 2020. Hence, the returns of income which were required to be filed by July 31, 2020, and October 31, 2020, are required to be filed by November 30, 2020. Consequently, the date for furnishing various audit reports including tax audit report under the Income-tax Act, 1961 (the Act) has also been extended to October 31, 2020.
In order to provide more time to taxpayers for furnishing of Income Tax Returns, it has been decided to further extend the due date for furnishing of Income-Tax Returns as under:
(A) The due date for furnishing of Income Tax Returns for the taxpayers (including their partners) who are required to get their accounts audited [for whom the due date (i.e. before the extension by the said notification) as per the Act is October 31, 2020] has been extended to January 31, 2021.
(B) The due date for furnishing of Income Tax Returns for the taxpayers who are required to furnish report in respect of international/specified domestic transactions [for whom the due date (i.e. before the extension by the said notification) as per the Act is November 30, 2020] has been extended to January 31, 2021.
(C) The due date for furnishing of Income Tax Returns for the other taxpayers [for whom the due date (i.e. before the extension by the said notification) as per the Act was July 31, 2020] has been extended to December 31, 2020.
Consequently, the date for furnishing of various audit reports under the Act including tax audit report and report in respect of international/specified domestic transaction has also been extended to December 31, 2020.
Further, in order to provide relief to small and middle class taxpayers, the said notification dated June 24, 2020, had also extended the due date for payment of self-assessment tax for the taxpayers whose self-assessment tax liability is up to Rs 1 lakh. Accordingly, the due date for payment of self-assessment tax for the taxpayers who are not required to get their accounts audited was extended from July 31, 2020, to November 30, 2020, and for the audi table cases, this due date was extended fromt October 31, 2020 to November 30, 2020.
In order to provide relief for the second time to small and middle class taxpayers in the matter of payment of self-assessment tax, the due date for payment of self-assessment tax date is hereby again being extended. Accordingly, the due date for payment of self-assessment tax for taxpayers whose self-assessment tax liability is up to Rs. 1 lakh has been extended to January 31, 2021, for the taxpayers mentioned in para 3(A) and para 3(B) and to December 31, 2020, for the taxpayers mentioned in para 3(C), according to a PIB release. The necessary notification in this regard shall be issued in due course.