Tax Professionals Seek Extension of Income Tax, GST Deadlines

The Bombay Chartered Accountants’ Society (BCAS) on Tuesday, 15 December, filed a plea with the Union Finance Ministry regarding issues faced by taxpayers due to rising number of COVID-19 cases, mobility restrictions and disruption of transport system.

Here are the details of the various extensions sought after by the Bombay Chartered Accountants’ Society:

• Income Tax: The society has urged the government to extend the deadline for filing income tax return, transfer pricing report, tax accountant roll forward and other reports under the Income Tax Act for assessment year 2020-21, from 31 December to 31 March 2021.
• GST: The BCAS has also requested the government to extend deadline for filing GSTR-9C and GSTR 9-annual reconciliation statement and return for FY 2018-19 and 2019-20, from 31 December to 31 March.

The finance ministry in May had announced a slew of direct tax measures as part of the COVID-19 relief package.

The following due dates have been extended:

• Due date for all income tax returns for FY 2019-20 has been extended from 31 July and 31 October to 30 November.
• Tax audit due date has been extended from 30 September to 31 October.
• Dates of assessments getting barred on 30 September has been extended to 31 December.
• Window for making payment sunder “Vivaad se Vishwa Scheme”– a tax dispute resolution mechanism – without any additional amount has been extended till 31 December.