The Government has extended the deadline for employers to issue tax deduction at source (TDS) certificates, or Form 16, to June 30, 2020. Usually, the last date is May 31 and employers are required to issue Form 16 before June 15.
Owing to the lockdown situation, the Government is considering extending the deadline for filing personal income tax returns, from July 31 to September 30. The last date for paying advance tax has already been extended from March 31 to June 30.
The deadline for individuals to file their returns, under normal circumstances, is July 31. But this would be difficult for most employees if they do not receive their TDS certificates till June end. That is why, the Government is likely to extend the deadline.
For the third time, the income tax department has postponed the requirement for companies to include details of GST and General Anti-Avoidance Rules (GAAR) in their income tax (IT) audit reports, till March 2021.
The usual practice is to notify income tax return (ITR) forms right after the financial year closes in March. This allows taxpayers to file their ITRs in time, that is, before the due date of July 31. After incorporating certain changes pertaining to disclosures, this year the IT department had released ITR-1 (Sahaj) and ITR-4 (Sugam) forms in January itself. To allow taxpayers to enjoy full benefits of the extended timelines/due dates amidst the pandemic, the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) will be revising the return forms for FY 2019-20 (Assessment Year 2020-21), and notifying the same very soon.
