Income Tax Return Filing – New Dates & Deduction Benefits

Highlights of CBDT’s Notification dt. 24th June, 2020.

In view of the challenges faced by taxpayers in meeting the statutory and regulatory compliance requirements across sectors due to the outbreak of Coronavirus, on 31 March 2020 the Government has, extended various time limits in order to offer more relief to taxpayers for various compliances –

1. Deadline for filing the original as well as revised income tax returns for FY 2018-19 (AY 2019-20) has been extended to 31 July 2020.

2. The due date for the income tax return for the financial year 2019-20 (AY 2020 – 21) has been extended to 30 November 2020.

Therefore, the returns of income which are required to be filed by 31st July 2020 and 31st October 2020 is extended to November 30th, 2020. Consequently, the date for the furnishing tax audit report has also been extended to October 31st, 2020.

due date income tax return

3. In order to provide relief for small and middle-class taxpayers, the date of payment of self-assessment tax in the case of a taxpayer whose self-assessment tax liability is up to Rs. 1 lakh has also been extended to 30 November 2020.

However, it is clarified that there will be no extension of the date for the payment of self-assessment tax for taxpayers with a tax liability of more than Rs . 1 lakh. In this case, the full self-assessment tax is payable by the due dates set out in the Income Tax Act , 1961 (IT Act) and the late payment will attract interest pursuant to section 234A of the IT Act.

4. The date for making various investments/payments for claiming deduction under Chapter  VIA-B of the IT Act, which includes Section 80C (LIC, PPF, NSC, etc.), 80D (Mediclaim), 80 G (Donations), etc., has also been extended to 31 July 2020. As a result, the investment/payment may be made up to 31 July 2020 to claim the deduction under these sections for the year 2019-20.

5. The investment/construction/purchase date for claiming rollover benefit/deduction in respect of capital gain under sections 54 to 54 GB of the IT Act was also extended to 30 September 2020. Consequently, the investment/construction/ purchase made up to September 30th, 2020 will be eligible to claim capital gains deduction.

6. The date for the start of operation of the SEZ units for claiming deduction under section 10AA of the IT Act was also extended to September 30th, 2020 for units receiving the necessary approval by March 31st, 2020.

tds due dates

7. The furnishing of TDS / TCS statements and the issuance of TDS / TCS certificates is a requirement for allowing taxpayers to file their income return for FY 2019-20, the filing date for TDS / TCS statements and the issuance of TDS / TCS certificates for FY 2019-20 was extended to 31 July 2020 and 15 August 2020 respectively.

8. The date for passing of order or issuance of notice by the authorities and various compliance with various Direct Taxes & Benami laws needed to be passed / ordered / released by 31 December 2020, were extended to 31 March 2021. The deadline for connecting Aadhaar with PAN will also also be extended to 31 March 2021.

The Minister of Finance has already announced an extension to 31 December 2020 of the date for making payment without additional sum under the “Vivad Se Vishwas” scheme, required legislative amendments for which will be moved in due time. The said Notification has extended to 31 December 2020 the date for the completion or compliance of the actions required to be completed under the Scheme. Consequently, the date of declaration furnishing, order passing, etc. under the Scheme is extended to 31 December 2020.

Deferment of the implementation of the new approval / registration / notification procedure for certain entities u / s 10(23C), 12AA, 35 and 80 G of the IT Act has already been extended from 1 June 2020 to 30 September 2020,

The old procedure i.e. preamended procedure will continue to apply. Necessary legislative amendments in this regard shall be moved in due time.

The Finance Minister has already announced a reduced rate of TDS for specified non-salary payments to residents and a rate of TCS of 25 per cent for the period from 14 May 2020 to 31 March 2021.

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