New Delhi: In order to provide relief in the wake of COVID-19 pandemic, the government today for the third time extended the deadlines for filing Income Tax Returns. Now the due date for payment of self-assessment tax for small and middle class taxpayers has been extended to February 15, 2021 for taxpayers whose self-assessment tax liability is up to Rs. 1 lakh, and to January 10, 2021 for the other taxpayers.
The Government has also extended the due date of furnishing of annual return under section 44 of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 for the financial year 2019-20 from December 31, 2020 to February 28, 2021.
It may be mentioned that in view of the challenges faced by taxpayers in meeting the statutory and regulatory compliances due to the outbreak of COVID-19, the Government had earlier brought the Taxation and Other Laws (Relaxation of Certain Provisions) Ordinance, 2020 (‘the Ordinance’) on March 31, 2020 which extended various time limits. The Ordinance had since been replaced by the Taxation and Other Laws (Relaxation and Amendment of Certain Provisions) Act.
Considering the problems being faced by the taxpayers, the deadline to the taxpayers for furnishing of Income Tax Returns, tax audit reports and declaration under Vivad Se Vishwas Scheme, has been further extended. Moreover, in order to provide more time to taxpayers to comply under various ongoing proceedings, the dates of completion of proceedings under various Direct Taxes and Benami Acts have also been extended. These extensions are as under:
- The due date for furnishing of Income Tax Returns for the Assessment Year 2020-21 for the taxpayers (including their partners) who are required to get their accounts audited and companies [for whom the due date, as per the provisions of section 139(1) of the Income-tax Act,1961, was October 31, 2020 and which was extended to November 30, 2020 and then to January 31, 2021] has been further extended to February 15, 2021.
- The due date for furnishing of Income Tax Returns for the Assessment Year 2020-21 for the taxpayers who are required to furnish report in respect of international/specified domestic transactions [for whom the due date, as per the provisions of section 139(1) of the Income-tax Act,1961, was November 30, 2020 and which was extended to January 31, 2021] has been further extended to February 15, 2021.
- The due date for furnishing of Income Tax Returns for the Assessment Year 2020-21 for the other taxpayers [for whom the due date, as per the provisions of section 139(1) of the Income-tax Act, 1961, was July 31, 2020 and which was extended to November 30, 2020 and then to December 31, 2020] has been further extended to January 10, 2021.
- The date for furnishing of various audit reports under the Act including tax audit report and report in respect of international/specified domestic transaction for the Assessment Year 2020-21 has been further extended to January 15, 2021.
- The last date for making a declaration under Vivad Se Vishwas Scheme has been extended to January 31, 2021 from December 31, 2020.
- The date for passing of orders under Vivad Se Vishwas Scheme, which are required to be passed by January 30, 2021 has been extended to January 31, 2021.
- The date for passing of order or issuance of notice by the authorities under the Direct Taxes and Benami Acts which are required to be passed/ issued/ made by March 30, 2021 has also been extended to March 31, 2021.
The necessary notifications in this regard shall be issued in due course.
– global bihari bureau
