The government on Thursday extended the due date of filing income tax returns for 2020-21 for individuals by two months till September 30.
The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has also extended the ITR filing deadline for companies by a month till November 30.CBDT said an extension of time limits is being given for certain tax compliances “to provide relief to taxpayers in view of the severe pandemic”.
“The Central Government, in continuation of its commitment to address the hardship being faced by various stakeholders on account of the severe Covid-19 pandemic, has, on consideration of representations received from various stakeholders, decided to extend timelines for compliances under the Income-tax Act,1961,” said Ministry of Finance in a statement.
Granting major relief to taxpayers facing hardship due to the severe pandemic & in view of representations recd, the Central Govt extends certain timelines for compliances under IT Act. CBDT Circular No.9/2021 dated 20.05.2021 issued. Circular available on https://t.co/loEeiuxjTf pic.twitter.com/EFfzvCCRGD
— Income Tax India (@IncomeTaxIndia) May 20, 2021
The ITR filing deadline for FY20 was extended to January 10, 2021.
Also, the deadline for issuing Form 16 by employers to employees has been extended by a month till July 15, 2021, the CBDT said.
The due date for filing the tax audit report and transfer pricing certificate has been extended by a month till October 31 and November 30, respectively. For filing belated or revised return of income, the due date is now January 31, 2022.
“Various due date relaxations will reduce compliance burden for businesses that have been struggling in the current crisis. This also emphasises how critical it is for businesses to move their tax compliance fully online.The extension of due dates for various compliances for employers as well extension of tax filing due date for taxpayers is important in the current situation as the second wave of covid is raging through several states in India,” said Archit Gupta, Founder and CEO – ClearTax.
For the 2020-21 fiscal, the government had given taxpayers the option to choose a new tax regime under section 115BAC of the I-T Act.
The new I-T slabs would be for individuals not availing or foregoing certain specified deductions or exemptions while computing total income for tax purpose.
Under this, annual income up to Rs 2.5 lakh is exempt from tax. Those individuals earning between Rs 2.5 lakh and Rs 5 lakh will pay 5 per cent tax. Income between Rs 5 and 7.5 lakh will be taxed at 10 per cent, while those between Rs 7.5 and 10 lakh at 15 per cent.
Mean-while, as per the reports, “Income Tax Dept will also launch its new e-filing portal http://incometax.gov.in on 7 June, 2021. Existing ITD portal http://incometaxindiaefiling.gov.in would not be available to taxpayers/other stakeholders for a brief period of 6 days, from 1 June, 2021 to 6 June, 2021.
