Extension of various due dates under Income Tax due to Covid-19

In view of the challenges faced by taxpayers in meeting the statutory and regulatory compliance requirements across sectors due to the outbreak of COVID-19, the Government brought the Taxation and Other Laws (Relaxation of Certain Provisions) Ordinance, 2020 [the Ordinance] on 31^st March 2020, which, inter-alia, extended various time limits. In order to provide further relief to the taxpayers for making various compliances, the Government has issued a Notification on 24^th June 2020, the salient features of which are as under:-

• Time Limit for filing of original as well as revised income tax returns for the F.Y. 2018-19 (A.Y. 2019-20) has been extended to 31^st July, 2020.

• Due date for income tax return for the F.Y. 2019-20 (A.Y. 2020-21) has been extended to 30^th November, 2020. Hence, the returns of income which are required to be filed by 31^st July 2020 and 31^st October 2020 can be filed up to 30^th November 2020.

• Date for Furnishing tax audit report for A.Y.2020-21 has also been extended to 31^st October, 2020.

• In order to provide relief to small and middle class taxpayers, the date for payment of self-assessment tax in the case of a taxpayer whose amount of tax on the total income as reduced by the clause (i) to (vi) of subsection (1) of section-234A does not exceed Rs. 1 Lakhs, has also been extended to 30^th November 2020.
• However, it has been clarified that there will be no extension of date of the payment of self-assessment tax for the other taxpayers having self-assessment tax liability more than Rs. 1 Lakhs. In this case, the whole of the self-assessment tax shall be payable by the due dates specified in the IT Act, 1961 and the delayed payment would attract interest under section 234A of the IT Act, 1961.

• The date for making various investment/payment for claiming deduction under Chapter VIA under the heading “B-Deductions in respect of certain payments” which includes section 80C (LIC, PPF, NSC etc.), 80D (Medi claim), 80G (Donations) etc. has also been further extended to 31^st July, 2020. Hence, the investments/ payments can be made up to 31^st July 2020 for claiming deduction under these sections for F.Y. 2019-20 (A.Y. 2020-21).

• The date for making investment/construction/purchase for claiming rollover benefit/deduction in respect of capital gains under sections 54 to 54GB of the IT Act has also been further extended to 30^th September 2020. Therefore, the investment/construction/purchase made up to 30^th September 2020 shall be eligible for claiming deductions from capital gains.

• The date for commencement of operation for the SEZ units for claiming deduction under section 10AA of the IT Act has also been further extended to 30^th September, 2020 for the units which received necessary approval by 31^st March 2020.

• The furnishing of TDS/TCS statements and issuance of TDS/TCS certificates being the pre-requisite for enabling the taxpayers to prepare their return of income for F.Y. 2019-20, the date for furnishing of TDS/TCS statements and issuance of TDS/TCS certificates pertaining to the FY 2019-20 has been extended to 31^st July, 2020 and 15^th August, 2020 respectively.

• The date for passing of order or issuance of notice by the authorities and various compliances under various Direct Taxes & Benami Law which are required to be passed/issued/made by 31^st December, 2020 has been extended to 31^st March 2021.

• Date of linking of Aadhaar with PAN would also be extended to 31^st March, 2021.

• The reduced rate of interest of 9% for delayed payments of taxes, levies etc. specified in the Ordinance shall not be applicable for the payments made after 30^th June, 2020.

• The FM has already announced extension of date for making payment without additional amount under the “Vivad Se Vishwas” Scheme to 31^st December, 2020, necessary legislative amendments for which shall be moved in due course of time. Thus, the date of furnishing of declaration, passing of order etc. under the scheme stand extended to 31^st December, 2020.

• Deferment of the implementation of new procedure for approval/registration/notification of certain entities u/s 10(23C), 12AA, 35 and 80G of the IT Act has already been announced vide Press Release dated 8^th May, 2020 from 1^st June 2020 to 1^st October, 2020. It is clarified that the old procedure i.e. pre-amended procedure shall continue to apply during the period from 1^st June 2020 to 30^th September 2020.  

• The FM has already announced reduced rate of TDS for specified non –salaried payments to residents and specified TCS rates by 25% for the period from 14^th May 2020 to 31^st March 2021.

The press release can be accessed at: https://pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=1634070

Notification

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Press Release

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