Income tax return filing deadline for FY 2019-20 extended to Nov 30, 2020
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced key reforms in the tax structure on Wednesday, this gave a big relief for the taxpayers. The measures which have been announced as a part of Rs 20 lakh crore of government. This package has been given under the economic stimulus package which aims to increase the cash in hand and ease the liquidity pressure faced by the people because of the lockdown amid coronavirus pandemic.
Some key announcements are-
- Extension of the due date for filing the tax return– the due date of filing the income tax return for the financial year 2019-20 has been extended from July 31 and October 30, 2020, to November 30, 2020. Meanwhile, all the dates of the assessments getting barred on September 30, 2020, has also been extended to December 31, 2020. For those who have been getting barred on March 3, 2021, has been extended till September 30, 2021.
- Reduction in TDS/TCS rate for non-salary payments- for the non-salaried specified payments the rates of tax deducted at source (TDS) has been made to the residents and rates of tax collection at source (TCS) for the specified receipts has been reduced by 25% of the existing rates. This shall be applied to all types of the transactions including the payment for the contract, professional fees, interest, rent, etc shall be eligible for this reduced rate of the TDS. The reduction will be applicable for the remaining part of the financial year 2020-21 that is from May 14, 2020, to March 31 2021.
- EPF support for business, workers- the statutory obligation to pay 12 per cent of the basic salary for all the companies as share by the employer to the employee provident fund (EPF) has been reduced to 10% to boost up the liquidity. By this scheme liquidity up to Rs, 6,750 crores will be provided to the employers and employee for three months. Under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Package, employers’ 12 per cent of payment and 12 per cent of employee’s contribution was made into EPF accounts of the eligible establishments, by providing the salary for the month of March, April, and May 2020. This support has been extended by another 3 months until August 2020.
- Fast track processing of pending funds- the fast track processing of the pending refunds to charitable trusts, LLPs, non-corporate businesses and proprietorship firms, and among others by the income tax department. Sitharaman also mentioned that the income tax department ha already cleared Rs 18,000 crore worth of the refunds where the quantum due was up to Rs 5 lakh.
- Vivad se Vishvas scheme payment- the scheme of Vivad se Vishwas for direct tax dispute resolution has been extended by six months till December 31, 2020.
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