In a relief to taxpayers, the government on Saturday further extended the deadline for filing returns by individual taxpayers for FY 2019-20 by a month till December 31. Also, the due date of furnishing Income Tax Returns (ITRs) for taxpayers whose accounts require to be audited has been extended till January 31, 2021. The government had earlier in May extended various due dates for filing ITRs for FY 2019-20 from July 31 to November 30, to give compliance relief to taxpayers due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

In a statement, the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) said, “The due date for furnishing of Income Tax Returns for the other taxpayers [for whom the due date (i.e. before the extension by the said notification) as per the Act was July 31, 2020] has been extended to December 31, 2020.” The due date for furnishing of ITRS for “the taxpayers (including their partners) who are required to get their accounts audited [for whom the due date as per the I-T Act is October 31, 2020] has been extended to January 31, 2021”, it added. Also the due date for furnishing of ITRs for the taxpayers who are required to furnish report in respect of international/specified domestic transactions has been extended to January 31, 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, has been extended to December 31, 2020,” the CBDT said. Further, in a relief to small and middle-class taxpayers in the matter of payment of self-assessment tax, the due dates for payment have been extended. The CBDT said in view of the “constraints being faced by taxpayers due to COVID-19”, the deadlines have been extended to “provide more time to taxpayers for furnishing of Income Tax Returns”. Nangia & Co LLP Partner Shailesh Kumar said the much awaited extension of due dates for filing tax audit report, transfer pricing certificate and ITRs has been finally announced by the government.

“The taxpayers, who have not yet paid their complete tax liability and are required to pay self assessment tax more than Rs 1 lakh, will need to be mindful and pay taxes within original due dates, to avoid charging of interest for filing of ITR beyond original due date.  “For taxpayers who don’t have a self-assessment tax liability to pay or such amount is up to Rs 1 lakh, this is an absolute extension without any additional burden,” Kumar added. Separately, the government on Saturday also extended the due date for furnishing GST annual returns for FY2018-19 by two months till December 31.

Furnishing of the GST annual return is mandatory only for taxpayers with aggregate annual turnover above Rs 2 crore while reconciliation statement is to be furnished only by the registered persons having aggregate turnover above Rs 5 crore.