This story is from October 25, 2020

Government extends I-T returns deadline till December 31

The due date for furnishing of income tax returns for the taxpayers (including their partners) who are required to get their accounts audited has been extended to January 31, 2021, the tax department said in a statement.
Deadline for filing ITR by individual taxpayers extended till December 31
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NEW DELHI: The government on Saturday extended the deadline for filing income tax returns by individual taxpayers for fiscal year 2019-20 to December 31, providing relief to taxpayers hit hard by the Covid-19 pandemic.
The due date for furnishing of income tax returns for the taxpayers (including their partners) who are required to get their accounts audited has been extended to January 31, 2021, the tax department said in a statement.

It said the due date for furnishing returns for the taxpayers who are required to furnish reports linked to international/specified domestic transactions has also been extended to January 31, 2021.
Tax graph

Shortly after the lockdown was announced in March, the government had provided compliance relief to taxpayers by extending various time limits. In view of the challenges faced by taxpayers in meeting the statutory and regulatory compliances due to the outbreak of Covid-19, the government brought the Taxation and Other Laws (Relaxation of Certain Provisions) Ordinance, 2020 on March 31 which extended various time limits. The ordinance has since been replaced by the Taxation and Other Laws (Relaxation and Amendment of Certain Provisions) Act.

The government had issued a notification on June 24 under the ordinance extending the due date for all income tax returns for FY 2019-20 (assessment year 2020-21) to November 30. Hence, the returns of income which were required to be filed by July 31 and October 31, were required to be filed by November 30. The tax department said further extension in the deadline has been done to provide more time to taxpayers for furnishing tax returns.
In order to provide relief for the second time to small and middle class taxpayers in the matter of payment of self-assessment tax, the due date has been extended. The deadline for payment of self-assessment tax for taxpayers whose self-assessment tax liability is up to Rs 1 lakh has been extended to January 31, 2021 for certain category of taxpayers mentioned and to December 31 for the other category of taxpayers mentioned, the statement said.
The government has also decided to extend the date for filing the annual returns (FORM GSTR-9/GSTR-9A) and reconciliation statement (FORM GSTR-9C) for the financial year 2018-19 from October 31 to December 31. Notifications to give effect to this decision would follow, a finance ministry statement said. Filing of annual returns (FORM GSTR-9/ GSTR-9A) for 2018-19 is optional for taxpayers who had aggregate turnover below Rs 2 crore. The filing of reconciliation statement in FORM 9C for 2018-19 is also optional for the taxpayers having aggregate turnover up to Rs 5 crore.
The deadline has been extended as the government has been receiving representations for extension of date for filing annual returns (FORM GSTR-9) and reconciliation statement (FORM GSTR-9C) for 2018-19 on the grounds that on account of the Covid-19 pandemic related lockdown and restrictions, normal operation of businesses have still not been possible.
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