As a relief for taxpayers to help cope with Covid-19, FM Nirmala Sitharaman with the Income Tax Department, CBDT, and Finance Ministry announced another wave Direct Tax due date extension on 30th December 2020.
The Finance Ministry had initially announced the due date extension on 31st March 2020. Let’s have a look at the due dates that have been extended.
Flashing News!!! (or so they say)#Extend_Due_Dates_Immediately https://t.co/yhkpplIAvW pic.twitter.com/jWZlyZIol5
— Quicko (@HowToQuicko) December 30, 2020
Update: As per the Income Tax Notification on 30th July, the due date for belated / revised ITR for FY 2018-19, has been extended till 30th September 2020.
Income Tax Due Date Extension 2.0
Tax Saving Investments & Payments under Chapter VIA
Taxpayers can continue to claim deductions under Chapter VIA-B for Tax Saving investments like ELSS, NPS, Tax Saving Fixed Deposits and Payments like Medical insurance payments, LIC premiums, children tuition fees, etc made till 31st July 2020 for FY 2019-20.
The second extension gives an extra month from 30th June to 31st July 2020 to help taxpayers save taxes.
File Belated Return for FY 2018-19
Taxpayers can file a belated return for transactions done between 1st April 2018 to 31st March 2019 i.e FY 2018-19 (AY 2019-20).
Once you file a belated return you can claim the refund for any excess TDS deducted and deposited on your behalf.
Read More: Who should file ITR?
The second extension gives taxpayers an additional 1 month to file a belated ITR from 30th June to 31st July 2020.
Update: As per the Income Tax Notification on 29th July, the due date for belated / revised ITR for FY 2018-19, has been extended by 2 more months to 30th September 2020.
File Revised Return for FY 2018-19
Taxpayers can file a Revised return to rectify the details such as incomes, losses, balance sheet, etc reported while filing the original Income Tax Return.
Taxpayers like investors and traders can also carry forward losses by filing a revised return, provided they have filed the initial ITR before the due date. The due date to file ITR for FY 2018-19 was 31st August in case when tax audit was not applicable.
The second extension gives taxpayers an additional 1 month to file a revised ITR from 30th June to 31st July 2020.
Investment for Rollover benefit for Capital Gains
Taxpayers having capital gains from sale of house property, land, etc in FY 2019-20 can continue to make specific investments to claim the rollover benefit and reducing their tax liability.
Taxpayers have an additional 2 months to make specific investments and claim the rollover benefit for capital gains from 30th June to 30th September 2020.
Delay in Receiving Form 16
Usually, salaried individuals receive their Form 16 within 15 days of their employers filing TDS Return. Since the due date to file TDS return for Jan-March 2020 is extended to 31st July, employees can expect to receive their Form 16 by 15th August 2020.
Here’s all you need to know about Form 16.
No Interest u/s 234A delay in Tax payment
If the self-assessment tax liability of a taxpayer is below INR 1 Lakh, then the interest penalty will not be levied u/s 234A for late filing of ITR of FY 2019-20.
However, in case the self-assessment tax liability is above INR 1 lakh this relief will not be applicable.
Link PAN with Aadhaar
It is mandatory to link your PAN with Aadhaar. However, the due date for the same has been extended from 30th June 2020 to 31st March 2021, giving taxpayers additional 9 months.
From April 1, 2019, it is mandatory to quote and link Aadhaar number while filing Income Tax Return (ITR) unless specifically exempted. Thus, an individual cannot file their ITR without linking their Aadhaar to their PAN.
Availment of Vivad se Vishwas Scheme
Vivad se Vishwas Scheme is an initiative by the Government to put an end to pending direct tax disputes of Taxpayers. The Scheme aims to cater to all the taxpayers having income tax disputes in India.
Taxpayers having an extension of an additional 6 months to avail benefits of Vivad Se Vishwas for settlement of Tax disputes. The due date for the same is extended from 30th June 2020 to 31st December 2020.
Note: There is no additional extension for Income Tax compliance due dates for FY 2019-20 (AY 2020-19).
Due dates is 31st October to file Tax Audit Report and 30th November to file ITR.
TDS Due Date Extension 2.0
TDS/TCS Statement FY 2019-20
The due date to file TDS and TCS statements for FY 2019-20 have been extended from 30th June to now 31st July 2020. Giving deductors like employers, banks, companies, tenants, etc an additional 1 month to file TDS & TCS statements for FY 2019-20.
Issue TDS Certificates
TDS certificates are usually generated and issued 15 days from the due date of filing the TDS Statement. Since the due date to file TDS/TCS statements is extended by a month, it will have a rollover effect on issuing TDS certificates like Form 16 for employers to their employees, and Form 16A for non-salary payments by banks, companies, etc.
Interest on Belated Tax Payment
Interest on belated Tax Payment was reduced from 12% to 9% as announced on 31st March 2020.
This relief has been rolled back, and interest penalty for belated tax payment continues to be 12% from 30th June 2020.
Note: Reduced Rates for TDS/TCS by 25% on certain non-salary payments to residents for FY 2020-21 remains unchanged.
Investors/traders, TDS rates on dividend u/s 194 (Equity) & 194K (Mutual Funds) slashed by 25% (i.e from 10% to 7.5%) for remainder of FY 2020-21.
— Quicko (@HowToQuicko) May 13, 2020
You can find the Press release of Direct Tax due date extension on Income Tax Notification website and on Income Tax India’s Twitter handle.
In view of the continued challenges faced by taxpayers in meeting statutory compliances due to outbreak of COVID-19, the Govt further extends the dates for various compliances. Press release on extension of time limits issued today: pic.twitter.com/lMew09HXMq
— Income Tax India (@IncomeTaxIndia) December 30, 2020