The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has further extended due date for filing Income Tax Returns and Audit Reports to October 31st.
The due date for filing of Income Tax Returns and Audit Reports for Assessment Year 2018-19 is 30th September, 2018 for certain categories of taxpayers.
The CBDT had earlier extended the date for filing of Income Tax Returns and various reports of Audit to 15th October 2018.
Upon consideration of representations from various stakeholders, CBDT further extends the ‘due date’ for filing of Income Tax Returns as well as reports of Audit (which were required to be filed by the said specified date) from 15th October, 2018 to 31st October, 2018 in respect of the said categories of taxpayers.
However, as specified in earlier order dated 24.09.2018, assessees filing their return of income within the extended due date shall be liable for levy of interest as per provisions of section 234A of the Income-tax Act, 1961.
The government has extended last date for filing of income tax returns (ITRs) for those taxpayers who are required to file their returns along with audit reports from Sept 30 to Oct 15, 2018.
The text of the notification by CBDT is as below:
CBDT has extended the due date for filing Income Tax Returns and audit reports from 30th September 2018 to 15th October 2018. However, there shall be no extension of the due date for purpose of Explanation 1 to section 234A (Interest for defaults in furnishing return) of the Act and the assessee shall remain liable for payment of interest as per provisions of section 234A of the Act.
In its tweet, the income tax department has posted – “CBDT extends due date for filing of Income Tax Returns & audit reports from 30th Sept,2018 to 15th Oct, 2018 for all assessees liable to file ITRs for AY 2018-19 by 30.09.2018,after considering representations from stakeholders.”
However, it adds that “Liability to pay interest under section 234A of Income Tax Act will remain.” It is important to note that if one has any unpaid tax liability then penal interest on the same may be leviable.
Typically, tax practitioner bodies ask for an extension from the government, saying they needed more time to file returns for entities where tax audit report or transfer pricing report or other audit reports are required to be filed as per the law.
Even last year, on consideration of representations from various stakeholders and to facilitate ease of compliance by the taxpayers, CBDT had extended the ‘due-date’ for filing Income Tax Returns with audit reports as prescribed under the Income-tax Act,1961 from 31st October, 2017 to 7th November, 2017 for AY 2017-18.
Tax audit is a review of accounts of taxpayers with business or profession from an income tax point of view such as incomes, deduction, compliance with tax laws, etc. Taxpayers with turnover exceeding Rs 1 crore in business (not opted for presumptive taxation scheme) or whose gross professional income is over Rs 50 lakh need to get a tax audit done. Tax audit report needs to be filed on or before the 30 September of the subsequent financial year in case of taxpayers who have not entered into an international transaction.
Some chartered accountants have argued that they have been busy filing returns of individual tax payers like the salaried class till August 30. Consequently they have had little time to devote to preparing the audit reports for those tax payers whose accounts are required to be compulsorily subjected to tax audit. The number of clauses in the audit reports have also increased thereby increasing the time required, they have pointed out. For these reasons they had requested an extension of the deadline for filing tax returns with audit reports.
Highlights:
An audit is a review of accounts of taxpayers with business or profession from an income tax point of view such as incomes, deduction, compliance with tax laws, etc.
Those with turnover exceeding Rs 1 cr in business or whose gross professional income is over Rs 50 lakh need to get a tax audit done.
It is important to note that if one has any unpaid tax liability then penal interest on the same may be leviable.
Filing of Income Tax Returns registers an upsurge of 71% up to 31st August,2018
There has been a marked improvement in the number of Income Tax Returns (ITRs) filed during FY 2018 (upto 31/08/2018, the extended due date of filing) compared to the corresponding period in the preceding year.
The total number of ITRs e-filed upto 31/08/2018 was 5.42 crore as against 3.17 crore upto 31/08/2017, marking an increase of 70.86%.
Almost 34.95 lakh returns were uploaded on 31/08/2018 itself, being the last date of the extended due date of filing of ITRs.
A remarkable increase is seen in the number of ITRs in 2 categories ie ITRs filed by salaried Individuals (ITR-1& 2) as also those availing the benefit of the Presumptive Taxation Scheme (ITR-4).
The total number of e-returns of salaried Individual taxpayers filed till 31/08/2018 increased to 3.37 crore from 2.19 crore returns filed during the corresponding period of 2017, registering an increase of 1.18 crore returns translating into a growth of almost 54%.
A commendable growth has been witnessed in the number of returns e-filed by persons availing the benefit of Presumptive Tax, with 1.17 crore returns having been filed upto 31st August, 2018 compared to 14.93 lakh returns upto 31st August, 2017 registering a massive increase of 681.69%.
The increase in the number of returns reveals a marked improvement in the level of voluntary compliance of taxpayers which can be attributed to several factors, including the impact of demonetisation, enhanced persuasion & education of taxpayers as also the impending provision of late fee which would be effective on late filing of returns.
This is indicative of an India moving steadily towards a more tax compliant society & reflects the impact of continuous leveraging of technology to improve taxpayer service delivery.
CBDT extended the last date to August 31 to file income tax return
The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has extended the due date for filing of Income Tax Returns (ITR) to 31st August, 2018. Earlier, the due date for filing of ITR for Assessment Year 2018-19 was July 31, 2018.
As the due date has been coming closer, the Board had received several requests from the tax practitioners body and the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) requesting a due date extension due to several reasons.
CBDT stated in a circular issued today, “The due date for filing of Income Tax Returns for Assessment Year 2018-19 is 31.07.2018 for certain categories of taxpayers. Upon consideration of the matter, the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) extends the ‘due date’ for filing of Income Tax Returns from 31st July, 2018 to 31st August, 2018 in respect of the said categories of taxpayers.
Generally, the income tax department extends the deadline by only a few days, but this year the deadline has been extended by full one month.
Kuldip Kumar, partner and leader, personal tax, PwC India, said, “Although due date extended.. those who have taxes to pay should pay before July 31 to save additional one month interest under section 234B.”
So, now if you don’t file ITR by the end of July then it won’t be treated as a belated return, as the new deadline is August 31, 2018. But if you miss the deadline of August 31, then according to the Income Tax Act, for returns pertaining to any financial year the last date for late return would be the end of the relevant assessment year. For example: For Financial Year 2017-18 (AY 2018-19), the last date would be 31 March 2019, and it would be your last opportunity to file the return.
From the current Assessment Year onwards, non-filing of ITR before due date will invite late fee of Rs. 1,000/5,000/10,000 as the case may be, under section 234F of the Income Tax Act.
The Board had notified the new Income Tax Return forms for the assessment year 2018-19 on April 5. The income Tax department has launched all the income tax forms for e-filing after more than a month of them being notified.
Further, due to GST and the over burden of compliance procedure, the tax practitioners were unable to finish their IT works. It is in this background, the people urged the Board to extend due date.
CBDT confirms News of Income Tax Return filing due date extension in Social Media is Fake
CBDT – extension in due date for non-tax audit cases is fake and there are no such plans to extend this deadline beyond 31st July, 2018
CIRCULAR No.4/2018
F.No.370889/25/2018 Government of India Ministry of Finance Department of Revenue Central Board of Direct Taxes
New Delhi, Dated 21st July, 2018
Order under section 139(1) of the Income-tax Act, 1961 (‘the Act’)
This Circular is issued in pursuant to 139(1) of the Tax Act, 1961 is to clarify that rumorsspreading across in media regarding extension in due date for non-tax audit is fake and no such plans to extend this deadline beyond 31st July, 2018. The department already received over 1 crore returns filed electronically.
As per Section 234F of the Income Tax Act, from 1st April 2018, the penalty for late filing income tax return would be as
(a) five thousand rupees, if the return is furnished on or the 31st day of December of the assessment year;
(b) ten thousand rupees in any other case:
Provided further that if the total income of the person not exceed five lakh rupees, the fee payable under this section shall not exceed one thousand rupees. Therefore, the assessees are hereby asked to file their ITRs before the due date to avoid the penalty.
(Sanyam Suresh Joshi)
DCIT, CBDT
Copy to:
1. PS to FM/OSD to FM/PS to MoS(F)/OSD to MoS(F)
2. PS to Secretary (Revenue)
3. Chairman, CBDT
4. All Members, CBDT
5. All Pr. DGsIT/Pr. CCsIT
6. All Joint Secretaries/CsIT, CBDT
7. Directors/Deputy Secretaries/Under Secretaries of CBDT
8. DIT (RSP&PR)/Systems, New Delhi
9. The C&AG of India (30 copies)
10. The JS & Legal Adviser, Ministry of Law & Justice, New Delhi
11. The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India
12. All Chambers of Commerce
13. CIT (M&TP), Official Spokesperson of CBDT
14. O/o Pr. DGIT (Systems) for uploading on official website
The income tax (I-T) has barred all Chartered Accountants (CAs) from valuing shares of closely-held companies.
Earlier, the fair market value of unlisted equity shares was calculated at the option of the company on either the book value on the valuation date or by the discounted cash flow method. Calculated by a merchant banker or a CA.
However, the Central Board of Direct Taxes has removed the CAs from the list of authorised professionals in this regard. From Thursday, only a merchant banker may do this. This change brings this provision at par with Rule 3 of the I-T Act, which says only a merchant banker may calculate the value of unlisted shares issued under Employee Stock Ownership schemes.
Interestingly valuation of shares may still be done by CAs under the Companies Act.
So, unlisted shares or unlisted companies may be sold or valued by a CA’s valuation but, for I-T purposes, it will require a merchant banker’s valuation report.
It is expected that the government is considering a qualifying course for valuation; only those who clear it may do valuation.
The CBDT today extended the deadline for the PAN-Aadhaar linking to June 30.
The policy-making body of the tax department issued an order extending the deadline from the current last date of March 31.
The order said the deadline for PAN-Aadhaar linking for filing I-T returns is being extended after “consideration of the matter”.
It is understood that the latest order by the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has come in the backdrop of the Supreme Court, earlier this month, directing extension of the March 31 deadline for linking Aadhaar with various other services.
The apex court ordered for the extension in the deadline till the five-judge constitution bench delivers its judgment on petitions challenging the validity of the biometric scheme and the enabling law.
This is a fourth extension given by the government for individuals to link their Permanent Account Number (PAN) with their biometric ID (Aadhaar).
The government has now made quoting of Aadhaar mandatory for filing income tax returns (ITRs) as well as obtaining a new PAN.
Section 139 AA (2) of the Income Tax Act says that every person having PAN as on July 1, 2017, and eligible to obtain Aadhaar, must intimate his Aadhaar number to the tax authorities.
As per updated data till March 5, over 16.65 crore PANs, out of the total about 33 crore, have been linked with Aadhaar.
The earlier deadlines for linking the two databases were July 31, August 31 and December 31, 2017, with the last being March 31 this year.
The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has further extended due date for filing Income Tax Returns and Audit Reports to October 31st.
