In a major development, Income Tax department has extended the deadline for ITR filings. The deadline for filing income tax return for 2019-20 by companies extended by 15 days to Feb 15, 2021. Further, the deadline for filing income tax returns by individuals extended by 10 days to January 10, 2021. Also, the last date to declare under Vivad se Vishwas Scheme extended to 31st January 2021, it was expiring on December 31st.
Deadline for filing income tax return for 2019-20 by companies extended by 15 days to Feb 15, 2021 & deadline for filing income tax returns by individuals extended by 10 days to Jan 10, 2021
Taking to Twitter, Income Tax Department said, “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:”
Earlier, direct tax professionals had sought extension for tax audit report, income tax returns for audit cases and time limit for AGMs in the wake of the ongoing pandemic scenario. The Direct Taxes Professionals Association (DTPA) had urged Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman for extension of date of furnishing of tax audit report under section 44AB to February 28 and the due date of filing of income tax returns of assessment year 2020-21 in audit cases to March, 31, 2021.
Meanwhile, the IT department on Wednesday said more than 4.54 crore tax returns for 2019-20 fiscal have been filed till December 29. In the comparable period last year, 4.77 crore income tax returns were filed. At the close of deadline for filing ITRs without payment of late fees for fiscal 2018-19 (assessment year (AY) 2019-20), over 5.65 crore returns were filed by taxpayers.
In a tweet on Wednesday, the Income Tax department nudged taxpayers to file their ITRs by the due date. “More than 4.54 crore Income Tax Returns for AY 2020-21 have already been filed till 29th of December, 2020,” the I-T department said.
The data released by the tax department showed that over 2.52 crore ITR-1 have been filed till December 29, 2020, lower than the 2.77 crore filed till August 29, 2019.
Over 1 crore ITR-4 have been filed till December 29 as compared to 99.50 lakh filed till August 29, 2019. An analysis of the data showed that individuals filing tax return for fiscal 2019-20 have slowed so far in the current year, while filings by businesses and trusts have increased.
Returns in ITR-1 Sahaj can be filed by an ordinarily resident individual whose total income does not exceed Rs 50 lakh, while form ITR-4 Sugam is meant for resident individuals, Hindu Undivided Families (HUFs) and firms (other than LLP) having a total income of up to Rs 50 lakh and having presumptive income from business and profession.
Over 33.93 lakh ITR-2 (filed by people having income from residential property) were filed till December 29.
During last year, the due date for filing ITR by individuals who do not need to get their accounts audited was August 31. However, the date has been extended till December 31 this year on account of the COVID-19 pandemic.
ITR-5 (filed by LLP and Association of Persons) filings till December 29, 2020 jumped to 7.09 lakh from 4.14 lakh filed till August 29, 2019. ITR-6 (filed by businesses) filings skyrocketed to over 3.46 lakh till December 29, 2020 as compared to 21,962 filed till August 29, 2019.
ITR-7 (filed by persons having income derived from property held under trust) filings also jumped to over 1.04 lakh till December 29, 2020 as compared to 41,963 till August 29 last year.
Earlier, for the FY 2019-20, the government had also extended the date for making various investment/ payment for claiming deduction under Chapter-VIA-B of the IT Act which includes section 80C (LIC, PPF, NSC etc.), 80D (Mediclaim), 80G (Donations) to 31st July, 2020. Now the investment/ payment can be made upto 31st July, 2020 for claiming the deduction under these sections for FY 2019-20. In the income tax forms, Schedule DI enables taxpayers to claim exemptions on investments they made during the extended period, until June 30, 2020.
Under normal circumstances, the last date to take income tax benefits is till March 31 of the financial year. The government had also extended the last date for the issuance of Form 16 by employers to their employees. In fact, the extension has been given for all TDS ( tax deducted at source) certificates, including Form 16. The CBDT has already notified the Income Tax Return Forms for the assessment year (AY) 2020-21 and are available for e-Filing by downloading either excel or Java utility.
