Last date for filing income tax returns, GST annual return extended

The deadline to file income tax returns for individuals has been extended till January 15 while the companies and individuals who need to get their accounts audited have been extended till February 15.

New Delhi: In a big relief for those taxpayers who have been facing difficulties in filing their income tax returns by Thursday (December 31), the Finance Ministry has extended the deadline, giving them more time to complete the compliance.

The last date for filing the income tax return for FY 2019-20 was July 31, however, the government extended the deadline to November 30, which was once again extended to December 31, 2020 due to the ongoing Covid-19 global pandemic.

This time, just a day before the expiry of the deadline on Thursday evening, the ministry announced one more extension for different categories of taxpayers, including individual taxpayers, companies and entities that require their tax returns to be audited.

The government also extended the deadline for furnishing the report for international and specified domestic transactions.

While the due date for filing income tax returns for those taxpayers that are required to get their returns audited or required to report international transactions or specific domestic transactions has been extended from January 31, 2021 to February 15, 2021, the due date for other category of taxpayers has been extended from December 31, 2020 to January 10, 2021.

Giving a big relief to small and medium taxpayers, whose self-assessed tax liabilities are less than Rs 1 lakh, the last date for filing of income tax returns has been extended to January 10, 2021 from December 31, 2020 and accordingly the last date for payment of self-assessed tax also been extended to January 10, 2021 for such taxpayers.

Similarly, the last date for making a declaration under the Vivad Se Vishwas direct tax dispute resolution scheme has been extended by one more month, from December 31, 2020 to January 31, 2020.

The last date for filing different audit reports under the Act, including tax audit report and the reports in respect of international or specific domestic transactions has been extended to January 15, 2021.

The government also extended the last date for passing an order under the Vivad Se Vishwas scheme by one day, from January 30 2021 to January 31, 2021.

Similarly, the date for passing an order under the Direct Taxes and Benami Acts, which are required to be passed by March 31, 2021, has been extended by one day to March 31, 2021.

The nominal one day extension for passing an order under these two schemes is extended by one day to coincide with the last day of the month.

The government also extended the last date for filing annual returns under section 44 of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act for the FY 2019-20 by two months, from December 31, 2020 to February 28, 2021.

Finance ministry said the necessary notification for these extensions will be issued in due course of time.

(Krishnanand Tripathi)