New Compliances for the Charitable Trust & Institutions

Very Important update for Charitable Trusts and Exempt Institution registered under section 80G, 12A or section 12AA : New – Fresh Registration Required : Last Date 31.12.2020

All Charitable trusts and exempt institution which are already registered under section 80G, 12A or section 12AA of Income Tax Act, 1961 will now be required to obtain FRESH REGISTRATION by December 31, 2020.

Provisions of registration under section 80G, 12AA or section 12A will be redundant from 31st December, 2020 and a new section 12AB will  come into force with effect from 01st January 2021.

All the existing registered trusts under the erstwhile section 80G, 12A or section 12AA would move to new provision section 12AB.

The new section 12AB proposes to change the registration process by prescribing the time frame for processing the application and validity of such a registration certificate so granted under the new section 12AB.

An order granting registration or approval shall be passed within 3 months of the application. Such registration or approval shall be valid for 5 years.

Similarly, charitable trusts and exempt institutions which already have Section 80G certificate will now be required to reapply for registration or approval by December 31, 2020.

The registration shall be valid for 5 years.

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

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

CBDT has refunded Rs. 71,229 crore so far to help taxpayers during COVID-19 pandemic

The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has issued refunds worth Rs 71,229 crore in more than 21.24 lakh cases upto 11th July, 2020, to help taxpayers with liquidity during COVID-19 pandemic, since the Government’s decision of 8th April, 2020 to issue pending income tax refunds at the earliest.

Income tax refunds amounting to Rs. 24,603 crore have been issued in 19.79 lakh cases to taxpayers and corporate tax refunds amounting to Rs. 46,626 crore in 1.45 lakh cases have been issued to taxpayers during COVID-19.

It is stated that the government has laid great emphasis on providing tax related services to the taxpayers without any hassles and is aware that during these difficult times of COVID-19 pandemic, many of the taxpayers are waiting to see that their tax demands and refunds reach finality as quickly as possible.

It is further emphasized that all the refund related cleaning up of the tax demands are being taken up on priority and is likely to be completed by 31st August, 2020.

Also, all applications for rectifications and for giving effect to appeal orders are to be uploaded on the ITBA.

It has been decided to do all the work of rectification and appeal effect on ITBA only.

It is reiterated that taxpayers, for quick processing of their refunds, should provide immediate response to the emails of I-T Department.

A quick response from the taxpayer in this regard would facilitate the I-T Department to process their refunds expeditiously.

Many taxpayers have submitted their responses electronically for rectification, appeal effects or tax credits. These are being attended to in a time bound manner.

All refunds have been issued online and directly into the bank accounts of the taxpayers.

CBDT allows One Time Relaxation for Verification of Tax Returns

-Through this one time relaxation scheme, ITR for FY 2014-15 to FY 2018-19 can be verified, on or before 30th September 2020.
– All such verified ITRs shall be processed on or before 31st December 2020.
– ITRs can be verified digitally through EVC or by sending duly signed a copy to CPC Bangalore.
The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) on Monday notified the one-time relaxation for verification of tax return for the Assessment Year 2015-16, 2016-17, 2017-18, 2018-19 and 2019-20, which are pending due to non-filing of ITR- V form and processing of such returns.

It has been brought to the notice of CBDT that a large number of electronically filed ITR still remains pending with the Income-Tax Department for want of receipt of a valid ITR-V Form at CPC, Bengaluru from the taxpayers concerned.

In law, consequences of non-filing the ITR-V within the time allowed is significant as such a return is/can be declared Non-est in law. Thereafter, all the consequences for non-filing a tax return, as specified in the Income-tax Act,1961 follow.

“The CBDT, in the exercise of powers under section 119 of the Act, in case of returns for Assessment Years 2015-16, 2016-17, 2017-18, 2018-19 and 2019-20 which were uploaded electronically by the taxpayer within the time allowed under section 139 of the Act and which have remained incomplete due to non-submission of ITR-V Form for verification, hereby permits verification of such returns either by sending a duly signed physical copy of ITR-V to CPC, Bengaluru through speed post or through EVC/OTP modes as listed in para 1 above.

Such verification process must be completed by 30.09.2020,” the circular said.

However, the circular clarified that this relaxation shall not apply in those cases, where during the intervening period, the Income Tax Department has already taken recourse to any other measure as specified in the Act for ensuring filing of a tax return by the taxpayer concerned after declaring the return as Non-est.

“CBDT also relaxes the time-frame for issuing the intimation as provided in the second proviso to sub-section (1) of Section 143 of the Act and directs that such returns shall be processed by 31.12.2020 and intimation of processing of such returns shall be sent to the taxpayer concerned as per the laid down procedure.

In refund cases, while determining the interest, provision of section 244A (2) of the Act would apply,” the circular said.

Read the Original Circular of CBDT

Key changes notified in the ITR forms the Asst Year 2020-21

The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has notified new Income-tax Return (ITR) forms applicable for the Assessment Year 2020-21.

CBDT notified Income Tax Return forms of FY 2020-21

G.S.R. 338(E).— In exercise of the powers conferred by section 139 read with section 295 of the Income-tax Act, 1961 (43 of 1961), the Central Board of Direct Taxes has made the rules to amend the Income-tax Rules, 1962.

The principal rules were published in the Gazette of India, Extraordinary, Part II, Section 3, Sub-section (ii) vide notification number S.O. 969(E), dated the 26th March, 1962 and last amended by the Income-tax (11th Amendment) Rules, 2020, vide notification number G.S.R. 329 (E) dated 28.5.2020.

In essence, the following are the key changes:

  1. House ownership: Individual taxpayers who are joint owners of house property cannot file ITR 1 or ITR4.
  1. Passport: One needs to disclose the Passport number if held by the taxpayer. This is to be furnished both in ITR 1-Sahaj and ITR 4-Sugam. Hopefully, it will be made mandatory in other ITR Forms as and when they are notified.
  1. Cash deposit: For those filing ITR 4-Sugam, it has been made compulsory to declare the amount deposited as cash in a bank account, if such amount exceeds Rs 1 crore during the FY.
  1. Foreign travel: If you have spent more than Rs 2 lakh on travelling abroad during the FY, you need to disclose the actual amount spent.
  1. Electricity consumption: If your electricity bills have been more than Rs 1 lakh in aggregate during the FY, you need to disclose the actual amount.
  1. Investment details: Details of investment qualifying for deduction under chapter VIA with bifurcation of details of investment made during the period from April 1, 2020 to June 30, 2020.
  2. A new schedule ‘Schedule DI’ has been inserted to claim benefit of investment/ deposit/payments made between 01-04-2020 to 30-06-2020 for the previous year 2019-20.

Download the ITR Forms for Asst Year 2020-21