Extension of due date for filing ITR under Income Tax till 31.03.2021 | Representation by BCAS

written by Income tax Expert | September 24, 2020

We have discussed in our earlier post about the due dates ending in September and new compliances starting from October, which clearly shows that life of a Chartered Accountant is full of due dates in these times and with due dates of Tax audit and Income tax approaching there are still many areas where the Covid is not under control and offices of a CA is not working in full capacity.

In such situation and with such tight deadlines for GST audit of FY 2018-19 and Tax audit of FY 2019-20 it won’t be possible for many small and medium practicing CA firm who don’t have proper systems in place to conduct the tax audit and other audit in a proper manner and conduct proper checking.

Now let’s have a brief introduction of BCAS i.e. Bombay Chartered Accountant Society:

“A voluntary organisation established on 6th July 1949, BCAS has presently more than 9,000 members from all over the country. BCAS is a principle-centered and learning-oriented organisation promoting quality service and excellence in the profession of Chartered Accountancy. The organisation is a catalyst to bring out better and more effective Government policies & laws in order to have clean & efficient administration and governance.”

Hence, BCAS has made a representation to our Hon’ble Finance minister for extension of various due dates under Income tax which is as under:

Extension of timelines for filing of returns under section 139(1) of the Act:

In the representation they have mentioned that various utilities for Income tax return were available recently and many utilities are still not available.

Further due date for AGM in case of companies has been extended to 31.12.2020 and hence they have requested to extend the due date of Filing tax audit report till 28.02.2021 and filing of Income tax return till 31.03.2021 as keeping the due date for Income tax return before AGM won’t be possible.

This will also mean taxpayers availing moratorium will get an extended time for payment of interest and claiming the deduction u/s 43B of the Act in AY 2020-21.

Extension of timelines for filing Transfer Pricing audit report and consequently the ITR for such tax payers:

Since due date for AGM has been extended till 31.12.2020, hence getting comparable data for conducting transfer pricing study would become difficult.

Hence, they have requested to extend the due date for filing of Form 3CEB and all the associated compliances like filing of Form 3CEAA to 31st March, 2021. The due date of filing Form 3CEAB which needs to be filed 1 month before the above due date be allowed to be filed on or before 28th February, 2021.

Extension of due date for completion of assessment for AY 2019-20:

Earlier the due date for completion of assessment for AY 2018-19 and 2019-20 was 30.09.2020 and 31.03.2021. But now with due date for completion of assessment for AY 2018-19 being 31.03.2021 it is requested to extend due date for completion of assessment for AY 2019-20 till 31.07.2021.

Various other representation has been made by BCAS to increase cash flow of businesses:

1. Refund of Taxes

2. Relief of interest u/s 234A of the Income tax act for even people having tax payable above Rs. 1 lakh.

3. Relief from interest u/s 234C of the Income tax act for AY 2021-22.

4. Clarification on residential status, POEM and PE for FY 2020-21 due to people staying in India and working for foreign employer.

5. Clarification in relation to concessional tax regime under sections 115BAA and 115BAB – Companies opting for tax regimes under section 115BAA and 115BAB will have to claim depreciation as per prescribed manner. However, manner of claiming depreciation has not been prescribed yet.

Thus, these are the various representations made by BCAS for relief before Hon’ble Finance minister.

However, we think even due date for GSTR 9 and 9C for FY 2018-19 should be extended which is due on 30.09.2020.

To read full representation CLICK HERE.

We have seen such kind of representation before also where ICSI had made representation for extension of AGM due date which was rejected first by the MCA but later on considered and due date was extended.

Let’s hope this time also the plea is accepted and some kind of relief is provided.