IT Correspondent
New Delhi, Oct. 25:
In a major relief to taxpayers, the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) on Saturday extended the deadline for filing income-tax returns (ITR) for FY 2019-20 (AY 2020-21) by a month till 31 December, 2020. “The due date for furnishing of Income Tax Returns for the 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,” CBDT said in a statement.
This was the second time that the finance ministry had extended the deadlines of filing ITR for the financial year 2019-20. “In view of the challenges faced by taxpayers in meeting the statutory and regulatory compliances due to the outbreak of COVID-19,” the CBDT had earlier provided the taxpayers time till November 30 to file the returns. For those taxpayers whose accounts need to be audited, the ITR filing deadline has been extended by two months till 31 January, 2021.
“The due date for furnishing of Income Tax Returns for the taxpayers (including their partners) who are required to get their accounts audited [for whom the due date (i.e. before the extension by the said notification) as per the Act is 31st October, 2020] has been extended to 31 January, 2021,” CBDT mentioned in a statement.
The date for furnishing of various audit reports under the Act including tax audit report and report in respect of international or specified domestic transaction has also been extended to 31 December, the regulator body said. “The due date for furnishing of Income Tax Returns for the taxpayers who are required to furnish report in respect of international/specified domestic transactions [for whom the due date (i.e. before the extension by the said notification) as per the Act is 30th November, 2020] has been extended to 31st January, 2021,” the statement read.
The due date for payment of self-assessment tax has also been extended to “provide relief for the second time to small and middle class taxpayers. The due date for payment of self-assessment tax for taxpayers whose self-assessment tax liability is up to Rs. one lakh has been extended to 31 January, 2021 for the taxpayers,” the statement added. The CBDT said the deadlines have been extended in order to “provide more time to taxpayers for furnishing of income tax returns”.
