Govt extends due dates for filing IT returns, audit reports, GST annual return

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The govt has given a suitable extension for annual compliance under GST laws as well as income tax laws due to disruptions caused by coronavirus.

The government on Saturday said due dates for filing income tax returns and tax audit reports for FY20 for various classes of tax payers have been extended to give more time for tax payers to comply.

The government also, on advice from the federal tax body, the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council, extended the due date for filing annual return for FY19 from 31 October to 31 December, finance ministry said.

For filing income tax returns for FY20, individuals who are not required to conduct a tax audit report will now get time till 31 December. The original due date of 31 July was earlier extended to 30 November.

Tax payers who are required to file their tax audit reports—professionals with gross receipts more than ₹50 lakh and those running businesses with sales up to ₹1 crore—have also got extra time. They can now file their tax returns by 31 January. The earlier deadline, after one extension, was 30 November.

Assessees who enter into international transactions or specified domestic transactions and are required to file tax audit reports, have also been given extra time to file their FY20 tax returns. As per Saturday’s announcement, they can file their tax returns for FY20 by end of January.

“Consequently, the date for furnishing of various audit reports under the Income Tax Act including tax audit report and report in respect of international or specified domestic transaction has also been extended to 31 December, 2020,” said the finance ministry statement.

The ministry also gave extra time for small tax payers to pay their self- assessment tax. This facility is available only to those with self-assessment tax liability up to ₹1 lakh. Accordingly, those who are liable to get tax audit done, can pay self assessment tax by end of January and others can pay by end of December. Finance ministry said it will notify these changes.

The government also said it has been receiving requests for more time to file GST annual return and the reconciliation statement for FY19. Accordingly the due date for the same has been extended from 31 October to 31 December, said the ministry.

Filing annual return (form GSTR-9/GSTR-9A) for FY19 is optional for taxpayers who had sales below ₹2 crore. Filing of reconciliation statement in form 9C is optional for the taxpayers with sales up to ₹5 crore, said the ministry.

Read the Press release dated 24 October, 2020: GST Annual Return date extended

AGM due date extended till 31.12.2020 for all companies

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Companies will be given three months’ extension to hold their AGMs.

A major relief has been granted to around 1.2 million companies, by MCA granting extension of 3 months for holding annual general meeting.

The MCA had earlier allowed companies to hold virtual AGMs due to Covid-19. However, companies were finding it difficult to complete the audit functions and finalize the annual reports.

The Companies with AGM due date as 30.09.2020 can now conduct their AGM by 31.12.2020, as per MCA.

There is no need of separate application in form GNL-1 for extension.

Companies are required to hold the AGM within six months of the end of a financial year which means by September 30, 2020 for FY2019-20. Now, they can hold it by December 31 this year.

Below are the excerpt of the extension notification by the various ROCs.

Section 96 of the Companies Act 2013 provide that every company other than a One Person Company , shall in each year hold an a general meeting as its Annual General Meeting (AGM) and shall specify the meeting as such in the notices calling it and not more than fifteen months shall elapse between the date of one AGM of a company and that of the next

And WHEREAS the first proviso of section 96 of the Act provides that in case of the first AGM, it shall be held within a period of nine months from the date of closing of the first financial year of the company and in other case, within a six months, from the date of closing of the financial year

And WHEREAS, the third proviso to Sub-section (I) of section 96 of the Act provides that the Registrar may, for any special reason, extend the time within which any annual general meeting, other than the first annual general meeting, shall As held, by a period not exceeding three months

And WHEREAS, various representations have been received from the companies, bodies and Professional Institutes pointing out that several companies are finding it difficult to hold their AGM for the financial year ended on 31.03.2020 due to the difficulties faced in view of the COVID 19 pandemic

And WHEREAS, the representations have been considered and the undersign is of the considered opinion that due to such unprecedented special reasons, the time within which the AGM for the financial year ended on 31.03.2020 is required to be held as per provisions to be extended

The undersigned hereby extend the time to hold the AGM, other than the first AGM, for the Financial year ended 31.03.2020 for companies that are unable to hold their AGM within due date of holding or period of three months from the due date are extended without companies requiring to file GNL 1 Form.

The approval for extension of AGM upto 3 months from the due date of AGM shall be deemed to have been granted by the undersigned without any further action on the part of Company.

The MCA issued directions to the registrar of companies (ROCs) to issue orders to even those who have not filed formal applications to this effect. Even those applications, which have already already filed, but not approved, or rejected, are also covered under this relief, MCA said in a release.

Extension of AGM order of Respective ROC’s – Source: Ministry of Corporate Affairs

 

Extension of Annual General Meeting for the FY 2019-20 – MCA

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Due to the widespread of COVID-19 and social distancing norms and consequential restrictions linked thereto, MCA has received several representations to allow companies to hold their Annual General Meeting for the financial year ended on 31st March, 2020 beyond the statutory period provided in section 96 of the Companies Act, 2013.

The matter was examined and MCA clarified vide General Circular No. 20/2020, dated 05.05.2020 regarding holding of AGM through video conferencing (VC) or other audiovisual means (OAVM), the companies which were unable to hold their AGM were advised to prefer applications for extension of AGM at a suitable point of time before the concerned Registrar of Companies under Section 96 of the Act.

MCA, in this regard, vide General Circular no. 28/2020 dated 17th August,2020 has issued clarification on extension of Annual General Meeting for the financial year ended as at 31.03.2020.

Provisions of holding Annual General Meeting (AGM) as per Companies Act, 2013.

According to section 96 of the Companies Act, 2013, companies are to hold their Annual General Meeting (AGM) within a period of 6 months from the date of closing of the financial year and companies which are to hold their first AGM shall be held within a period of 9 months from the date of closing of the financial year of that company.

The Ministry once again reiterated that the companies which are unable to hold their AGM for the financial year ended on March 31, 2020, despite availing the relaxations provided in MCA General Circular No. 20/2020 ought to file their applications in E-Form GNL-1 for seeking an extension of time in holding of AGM for the financial year ended on March 31, 2020, with the concerned Registrar of Companies on or before 29th September, 2020.

Also the Ministry has directed Registrars of Companies to consider all such applications (Filed in E-Form GNL-1) liberally in view of the hardships faced by the stakeholders and to grant an extension for the period as applied for (up to three months i.e. 31st December) in such applications.

Procedure to file Application seeking extension of time for holding Annual General Meeting:

1.Chairman /Director of the company shall call for a meeting of Board of Director for which a notice must be send at least 7 days before holding of Meeting of Board.
2.Convene a Board Meeting on the specified date.
3.Pass a resolution for extension of time limit for holding annual general meeting specifying the due reason for extension of AGM.
4.File an application to Registrar of Companies in E-Form No. GNL-1. (Reason for not holding AGM, along with other necessary information to be provided)
5.Attach the Certified true copy of the Board Resolution in E-Form-GNL-1.
6.The registrar will examine the application on the specific grounds and grant an extension.

 Obtain the Certificate of Grant of extension in holding Annual General Meeting of the Company.

 Convening of Annual General Meeting in extended period:

Once the extension is granted, the company may convene the Annual General Meeting of the Company within the period as allowed by the Registrar of Companies. 

MCA Circular on Extension of AGM

Income Tax refunds worth Rs 88,652 cr issued to 24.64 lakh taxpayers so far this fiscal

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The Income Tax department on Friday said it has issued refunds worth Rs 88,652 crore to over 24 lakh taxpayers so far this fiscal.


This include personal income tax (PIT) refunds amounting to Rs 28,180 crore issued to over 23.05 lakh taxpayers and corporate tax refunds amounting to Rs 60,472 crore to over 1.58 lakh taxpayers during this period.

“CBDT has, so far, issued refunds of over Rs 88,652 crore to more than 24.64 lakh taxpayers from 1st April, 2020 onwards.

Income tax refunds of Rs 28,180 crore have been issued in 23,05,726 cases & corporate tax refunds of Rs 60,472 crore have been issued in 1,58,280 cases,” the Income Tax department tweeted.

The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) is the apex decision-making body in direct tax matters, administers personal income tax and corporate tax.

The government has emphasized on providing tax related services to taxpayers without any hassles during COVID-19 pandemic and to that end has been clearing up pending tax refunds.

Source : Economic Times

Pace of economic recovery appears to be gathering momentum in August: Nomura

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The Nomura India Business Resumption Index inched up to 73.7 for the week ending August 16, over the previous week’s reading of 72.3. This came after the NIBRI, a weekly tracker of the pace at which economic activity normalises, stagnated at the 70-mark for three weeks through July.

The economy sustained an increasing pace of recovery through August so far after a prolonged period of plateauing trends in July, according to a Nomura note on Monday.

The Nomura India Business Resumption Index (NIBRI) inched up to 73.7 for the week ending August 16, over the previous week’s reading of 72.3.

This came after the NIBRI, a weekly tracker of the pace at which economic activity normalises, stagnated at the 70 mark for three weeks through July.

While this indicated an improved momentum in August over the moderation in July, the rising spread of infections continued to hinder recovery.

“Nevertheless, the recovery is uneven, and the risk of reversal in momentum from a second wave of COVID-19 cases joining a ‘rolling wave’ in traditional safer states (in the south and the east) remains high,” the note said.

Mobility indicators such as the Google workplace and retail and recreation mobility data resumed an uptrend in August after a prolonged period of flat growth, Nomura said.

However, this was still materially below pre-pandemic levels, it added.

There was a steady pick up in the labour participation rate 42.2% as against 40.6% in the previous week.

On the other hand, the unemployment rate showed a steady uptrend rising to 9.1% compared to the 8.2% recorded last week, which grew from 7.2% reported the week before that.

The deterioration was spread both over rural and urban areas, the note said.

Power demand also showed a steady trend albeit in the opposite direction with a steep weekly contraction of 6.4% over the 0.8% contraction of the week earlier, it said.

Source: Economic Times

CBDT extends FY19 income tax return filing deadline till September 30 due to COVID-19

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The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) on Wednesday (July 29) extended the deadline for filing income tax returns for 2018-19 fiscal till September 30 due to corona virus COVID-19 pandemic.

The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) on Wednesday (July 29) extended the deadline for filing income tax returns for 2018-19 fiscal till September 30 due to coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic.

“In view of the constraints due to the Covid pandemic & to further ease compliances for taxpayers, CBDT extends the due date for filing of Income Tax Returns for FY 2018-19 (AY 2019-20) from 31st July, 2020 to 30th September, 2020,” the Income Tax Department said in a tweet.

It is to be noted that this is the third extension given by the Centre to taxpayers to file both original and revised tax returns for 2018-19 fiscal.

In March, the Centre had extended the due date from March 31 to June 30 due to corona virus COVID-19 pandemic. Later in June, the date was again extended by a month till July 31.

If an individual fails to file the belated ITR, if due, by the deadline (i.e., September 30, 2020), then he/she will not be able to file the income tax return for the financial year 2018-19.

The CBDT has said that an individual can also file a revised ITR for FY2018-19 within this deadline.

Read the CDBT Circular: CBDT Notification

SEBI extends deadline for filing April-June corporate financial results to September 15

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In a major relief to companies, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) today extended the deadline for submission of financial results for the quarter, half-year, and financial year ended 30 June 2020 to September 15. The SEBI circular said that it has received representations requesting an extension of time for submission of financial results for the quarter or half year-ended 30 June 2020, due to the shortened time gap between the extended deadline for submission of financial results for the period-ended 31 March 2020 and the quarter or half year-ended June 30, 2020.

Under Regulation 33 of the SEBI (Listing Obligations and Disclosure Requirements) Regulations, 2015 (‘LODR Regulations’), a listed entity is required to submit its quarterly, half-yearly, or annual financial results within 45 days or 60 days, as applicable, from the end of each quarter, half year, or financial year.

Accordingly, listed entities were required to submit the financial results for the quarter, half-year-ended 30 June 2020 on or before 14 August 2020.

Earlier, the regulatory body had also extended the timeline for submission of financial results by listed entities for the quarter, half-year, or financial year-ended 31 March 2020 to 31 July 2020, due to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

SEBI further said that today’s announcement shall come into force with immediate effect and advised all stock exchanges to bring the provisions of this circular to the notice of all listed entities.

It has asked the stock exchanges to bring the provisions of the circular to the notice of all listed entities and also disseminate on their websites.

Meanwhile, SEBI’s move to relax the deadlines is expected to give more time to companies already struggling with operations part amid the pandemic.

In-line with the efforts to provide relief to the sagging businesses, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman earlier announced to decriminalise some offences under the Companies Act.

The SEBI has also introduced new norms to give more fund-raising flexibility to stressed firms.

The amendments can help promoters get financial investors on board without losing control of the company.