The finance ministry on Saturday extended the deadline for filing income tax returns by individual taxpayers for the financial year (FY) 2019-20 (assessment year 2020-21) by a month till December 31, in a relief to taxpayers on account of COVID-19.
Taxpayers now have until December 31 to file their return of income earned between April 1, 2019, to March 31, 2020, instead of October 31.
For individuals who are required to furnish a report in respect of international/specified domestic transactions, the Income-Tax Return (ITR) filing deadline has been extended by two months till January 31, 2021. The Government had in May extended the date for filing ITR for FY2019-20 from July 31 to November 30, to give compliance relief to taxpayers.
In view of constraints being faced by taxpayers due to COVID-19,CBDT further extends due dates for various compliances for FY 2019-20:
The due dt of furnishing Income Tax Returns(ITRs)for taxpayers whose accounts require to be audited has been extended to 31st, January,2021 (1/5) pic.twitter.com/cWWbXu80K9— Income Tax India (@IncomeTaxIndia) October 24, 2020
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.
According to the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT), the policy-making body of the Income Tax Department, the due dates have been extended to “provide more time to taxpayers for furnishing of income tax returns.”
Meanwhile, today, the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) extended the due dates for filing annual return and reconciliation statements for FY 2018-19 by two months to December 31, 2020.
Filing of annual return (FORM GSTR-9/ GSTR-9A) for 2018-19 is optional for taxpayers who had aggregate turnover below Rs 2 crore, and filing of reconciliation statement in FORM 9C for 2018-19 is also optional for the taxpayers having aggregate turnover up to Rs 5 crore.
In a statement on Saturday ministry of Finance said the Government has decided to extend the due date based on the recommendations by the GST Council and representations from industry keeping on account of Covid-19 pandemic related lockdown and restrictions.
