Analysis of new extended due dates as per CBDT Notification under direct taxes: The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has vide Notification 35/2020 dated 24.06.2020 further extended the time limits under the Income-tax Act, 1961 and related Acts which were earlier extended by the Taxation and Other Laws (Relaxation of Certain Provisions) Ordinance, 2020.
On March 31. 2020 the government has promulgated Taxation and Other Laws (Relaxation of Certain Provisions) Ordinance, 2020 (hereinafter referred to as “Ordinacne 2020”) to provide relaxation in relation to tax matters under direct tax laws due to outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent nation-wide lockdown imposed.
As a result it was not possible to pay the taxes by the taxpayers as well as to perform various compliances within the time limit as stipulated under the income tax law and certain other direct tax laws.
It should be noted that there is no extension of the financial year 2019-20.
The Taxation and Other Laws (Relaxation of Certain Provisions) Ordinance, 2020 covers the following 8 laws referred to as ‘specified Act’ in the Ordinance for providing relaxation in compliances etc.-
(i) Wealth-tax Act, 1957
(ii) Income-tax Act, 1961
(iii) Prohibition of Benami Property Transactions Act, 1988
(iv) Chapter VII of the Finance (No. 2) Act, 2004 (Securities Transaction Tax)
(v) Chapter VII of the Finance Act, 2013 (Commodities Transaction Tax)
(vi) Black Money (Undisclosed Foreign Income and Assets) and Imposition of Tax Act, 2015
(vii) Chapter VIII of the Finance Act, 2016 (Equalisation Levy)
(viii) Direct Tax Vivad se Vishwas Act, 2020
Objective of the Ordinance
The objective of introducing the Ordinance,2020 is to provide relaxation in certain provisions in taxation and other laws specified in the Ordinance,2020 in view of the spread of pandemic COVID-19 across many countries of the world including India, causing immense loss to the lives of people. The relaxation is not limited to the extension of time limit but on other matters also.
The 6-page Ordinance,2020 contains VII chapters and 8 sections. Chapter I to Chapter IV (Sections 1 to 5) is related to the Direct Tax including Vivad Se Vishwas Scheme.
The Ordinance,2020 is promulgated with the objective of providing relaxation under the Income Tax Act, 1961 in the wake of COVID-19 outbreak in the country and the lockdown being imposed where all are restricted to stay inside their home which makes certain compliances impossible under the Income Tax Act, 1961 and certain other laws. In this way, this is a beneficial legislation.
The provisions of the Ordinance, 2020 have been given overriding effect to the provisions of the Income Tax Act and other specified Acts.
The Notification No. 35/2020 dated 24.06.2020 issued by the CBDT should be read in conjunction with the Taxation and Other Laws (Relaxation of Certain Provisions) Ordinance, 2020. This is because the notification is issued by the CBDT by exercising the powers given under this Ordinance and not under the Income Tax Act.
Under the Ordinance of 2020, the Central Government is empowered to issue notification under section 3(1) and section 3(2). Section 3(1) is related to various compliances related matters whereas section 3(2) is related to payment of taxes. Further, section 3(1) empowers the Central Government to notify different dates for completion or compliance of different actions. The said notification has specified different dates for different actions.
Extension of the time limit for payment of taxes including TDS
Notification No. 35/2020 dated 24.06.2020 is issued under section 3(1) of the Taxation and Other Laws (Relaxation of Certain Provisions) Ordinance, 2020 and hence is only related with the extension of time limits under the Income-tax Act, 1961 and related Acts.
Therefore, there cannot be any extension of dates in payment of taxes as extended by the Ordinance of 2020. As per section 3(2) of the Ordinance, 2020, where any due date is specified or prescribed or notified under any specified Acts including the Income Tax Act and such due date falls between the period of March 20 and June 29, 2020 then the tax or levy may be paid by June 30, 2020 or such extended date as may be notified later. No such notification is issued under this sub-section (2) of section 3 and hence the extended period allowed under the Ordinance shall prevail.
By virtue of this, TDS for March 2020, April 2020 and May 2020 needs to be paid by June 30, 2020 to avail the benefit of reduced interest liability of 0.75% p.m. instead of 1.5% p.m. Once the period of June 30 expires, all the normal provisions of the Income tax Act shall apply.
There is no change in the extended date of payment of taxes and levies of June 30, 2020 where such payments were required to be made between March 20, 2020 and June 29, 2020 in the following cases even after the issue of the CBDT notification-
Extension of the time limit for specific compliance requirements under the Income Tax Act, 1961 and other direct tax laws
Section 3(1) of the Ordinance explicitly extends the time limit for specific compliance requirements under the Income Tax Act, 1961. Certain compliances have been relaxed by a general provision in the Ordinance, 2020 which needs proper interpretation to ascertain the applicability of extended time-limit in each particular compliance under the Income Tax Act.
Section 3(1) of the Ordinance, 2020 is relevant to the time extension and other compliance requirements. It states that where any time limit is-
specified in the specified Act (for eg., Income Tax Act, 1961), or
prescribed in the Rules made thereunder (for eg. Income Tax Rules), or
notified in any Notifications (for eg. the last date to link PAN-Aadhaar is notified by a Notification)
and such time-limit falls in the period between 20-03-2020 and 29-06-2020 (or a new notified date)-
then the followings are provided under section 3 of the Ordinance,2020 and completion or compliance of action must be related to the followings-
completion of any proceeding,
the passing of any order,
issuance of any notice, intimation, notification,
sanction or approval or such other action, by any authority, commission or tribunal,
filing of any appeal,
furnishing of any report, document, return, statement or such other records,
under the provisions of the specified Acts which includes Income Tax Act, 1961.
The followings are exclusively provided for the Income Tax Act, 1961-
Extension of the time-limit for investments or acquisition etc. for sections 54 to 54GB
Where there is any requirement of making any investment, deposit, payment, acquisition, purchase, construction or other similar actions for the purposes of claiming any deduction, exemption or allowance under sections 54 to 54GB from March 20, 2020 to June 29, 2020 and the same could not be completed within this time period then the same may be completed by June 30, 2020. This provision under the Ordinance, 2020 has been given an overriding effect to the provisions of the Income Tax Act.
Section 54 to section 54GB deals with exemption from long term capital gains if the investment is made in the specified assets within the prescribed time limit. For example, to claim exemption from capital gains u/s 54EC, an assessee is required to invest the capital gains arising from the transfer of long term capital assets being land and or building or both within a period of six months from the date of transfer in the specified bonds. Now suppose if a person has transferred a house property on 30-09-2019, he is required to invest in the bonds by 31-03-2020. Since it falls within the specified period, the benefit of extension is available to him for investing in bonds till June 30, 2020 or extended time.
In this context, it is to be noted that the date of June 29, 2020 and June 30, 2020 is not made static but a dynamic one. It means these dates may be further extended by the government depending upon the situation of the country at that point of time. However, these dates can only be extended by the notification and cannot be reduced.
Extension of the time-limit for investments or acquisition etc for sections 80C, 80D, etc under Chapter VI-A
Similarly, where completion or compliance of any action is related to the making of investment, deposit, payment, acquisition, purchase, construction or such other action, by whatever name called, for the purposes of claiming any deduction, exemption or allowance under any provisions of Chapter VI-A under the heading "B.-Deductions in respect of certain payments" and the same could not be completed within the time period of March 20 to June 29, 2020, then the same may be completed by June 30, 2020.
Read more on Income Tax Deduction under Chapter VI-A
In this case also the date of June 29, 2020, and June 30, 2020 is not made static but a dynamic one. It means these dates may be further extended by the government depending upon the situation of the country at that point of time. However, these dates can only be extended by the notification and cannot be reduced.
Extension of the time-limit for investments etc. under any other provisions of the Income Tax Act
Similarly, where completion or compliance of any action is related to the making of investment, deposit, payment, acquisition, purchase, construction or such other action, by whatever name called, for the purposes of claiming any deduction, exemption or allowance under any other provisions of the Income Tax Act and the same could not be completed within this time period then the same may be completed by June 30, 2020 subject to fulfilment of such conditions, as may be notified by the Central Government.
In this case also the date of June 29, 2020 and June 30, 2020 is not made static but a dynamic one. It means these dates may be further extended by the government depending upon the situation of the country at that point of time. However, these dates can only be extended by the notification and cannot be reduced.
The above provisions are as per the Taxation and Other Laws (Relaxation of Certain Provisions) Ordinance, 2020. The above dates have been further extended by CBDT’s Notification No. 35/2020. As stated above, different extended due dates have been specified for different actions unlike the Ordinance where one common date of June 30 is prescribed for all the compliances.
There are two dates to be noted. One is ‘end due date’ which is June 29, 2020 and the other one is ‘end extended date’ which is June 30, 2020. The Ordinance provides relief from the compliances or actions which are required to be done or taken for the period beginning from March 20, 2020 and ending on June 29, 2020 shall be done by June 30. 2020.
At the first instance, the notification has extended June 29, 2020 to December 31, 2020 and June 30, 2020 to March 31, 2021. This means the time limit for all the compliances and other actions which falls during the period from March 20, 2020 to December 31, 2020 has been extended till March 31, 2021. But this time this date of March 31, 2021 is not common for all the actions. Several exceptions have been provided for the end completion date of March 31, 2021 which are listed below-
1. Return of Income for AY 2019-20: As per section 139, the last date of filing of return of income for AY 2019-20 was March 31, 2020. The Ordinance of 2020, however, extended the time limit to June 30, 2020. The notification of 24th June has further extended the last date to file the belated return of income for AY 2019-20 (FY 2018-19) to 31st July, 2020. In this case, the end date of March 31, 2021 will not apply.
2. Return of Income for AY 2020-21: As per section 139(1), the due date to file return of income is July 31 / October 31 and November 30 for different classes of persons. Since these dates were beyond the end date of June 29, 2020 as stipulated in the Ordinance, 2020, it was of no significance when the Ordinance was notified. However, since now the end date is extended till December 31, 2020, these dates have now become significant.
The notification of 24th June has extended the due date to file the return of income for AY 2020-21 (FY 2019-20) to 30th November, 2020. In this case, the end date of March 31, 2021 will not apply.
Interest u/s 234A: However, in this case it should be noted that there is no immunity provided from the levy of interest u/s 234A for filing of return of income by 30th November from the due date specified in section 139(1). The immunity from levy of interest u/s 234A is provided only in a case where the self assessment tax payable is upto Rs. 1 Lakh. In case the self assessment tax payable is more than Rs. 1 Lakh, interest u/s 234A will be payable on the entire amount of where the self assessment tax.
As readers are aware that interest u/s 234A is payable where there is a tax liability or self assessment tax is required to be paid at the time of filing of return of income. If the tax liability is already paid by way of advance tax or TDS or in a case where there is tax refundable, there will not be any liability to pay interest u/s 234A.
Earlier, the Finance Minister Nirmal Sitaraman in a press conference held on 13.05.2020 announced the extension of due dates for filing of return of income for all classes of persons to 30th November, 2020.
Extension of date for furnishing Tax Audit Report: Consequential extension is also given for furnishing the Tax Audit Report for the FY 2019-20. As per Finance Act, 2020, the provisions related to furnishing the Tax Audit Report is amended to provide that the tax audit report is required to be furnished one month prior to the due date of filing of return of income. Since the due date to file the return of income is extended to 30th November, the due date to furnish the tax audit report is also extended to 31st October, 2020.
3. Due date to furnish statement of TDS by government deductors: Earlier, when the Ordinance was promulgated it was stated in this article that the extended TDS payment date and the date of furnishing TDS statements were ending on the same date which was June 30, 2020.
Now, the notification of 24th June has extended the due date to deliver the statement of TDS u/s 200(2A) and the due date to deliver the statement of TCS u/s 206(3A) [where the deductor is a government department], for the quarter ending March 31, 2020 to July 15, 2020.
Further, where monthly payment of taxes is allowed, the due date for furnishing statements of TDS/TCS for the month of February 2020 and March 2020 is extended to July 15, 2020.
In these cases, the end date of March 31, 2021 will not apply.
4. Due date to furnish statement of TDS by other than government deductors: The notification of 24th June has extended the due date to deliver the statement of TDS u/s 200(3) and the due date to deliver the statement of TCS u/s 206(3) [other than government deductors], for the quarter ending March 31, 2020 to July 31, 2020.
Therefore, TDS statements in Form No. 24Q, Form No. 26Q and Form No. 27Q and TCS statements in Form 27EQ are allowed to be filed by July 31, 2020.
Further, where monthly payment of taxes is allowed, the due date for furnishing statements of TDS/TCS for the month of February 2020 and March 2020 is extended to July 31, 2020.
In this case, the end date of March 31, 2021 will not apply.
Read about Is there any Extension to TDS Return Due Date For Quarter 1 FY 2020-21
5. Extension of due date to issue TDS certificates in Form 16: The notification has explicitly extended the due date to issue the TDS certificates in Form 16 for the financial year 2019-20 to 15th August, 2020.
In respect of TDS certificates in Form 16A, the due date is required to be calculated as specified in Rule 31(3) of the Income Tax Rules, 1962.
Rule 31(3) of Income Tax Rules, 1962 provides for issuance of TDS certificates Form 16A and the same is required to be issued quarterly within 15 (fifteen) days from the due date for furnishing the statement of tax deducted at source under Rule 31A. Since the due date for furnishing the statement of tax deducted at source is extended to July 31, 2020, the due date to issue the TDS certificates in Form 16A gets extended to 15th August, 2020.
Similarly, TCS certificates in Form 27D shall also be required to be furnished within 15 days from the due date for furnishing the statement of tax collected at source specified under Rule 31AA(2). Since the due date for furnishing the statement of tax collected at source is extended to July 31, 2020, the due date to issue the TCS certificates in Form 27D gets extended to 15th August, 2020.
In this case, the end date of March 31, 2021 will not apply.
6. Time for investments, etc. for deduction u/s 54 to 54GB extended: The date for making investment/ construction/ purchase for claiming roll over benefit/ deduction in respect of capital gains under sections 54 to 54GB of the IT Act has also been further extended to 30th September, 2020. Therefore, the investment/ construction/ purchase made up to 30th September, 2020 shall be eligible for claiming deduction from capital gains.
In this case, the end date of March 31, 2021 will not apply.
There seems to be drafting error in the Notification in clause (v) of the first proviso. Clause (v) used ‘section 54 or 54GB referred to in item (I) of sub-clause (i) of clause (c) of sub-section (1) of section 3 of the Ordinance or sub-clause (ii) of the said clause……..’ instead of section 54 to 54GB as used in the Ordinance of 2020. However, the press release of the Income-tax department used the expression as sections 54 to 54GB.
Update: Read the corrigendum issued by the CBDT on this issue.
7. Date for commencement of operation for the SEZ units extended: The date for commencement of operation for the SEZ units for claiming deduction under section 10AA of the Income Tax Act has also been further extended to 30th September, 2020 for the units which received necessary approval by 31st March, 2020. The Ordinance had extended the date to June 30, 2020. In this case, the end date of March 31, 2021 will not apply.
8. Extension of investment dates for claiming deduction under Chapter VI-A: The date for making various investment/payment for claiming deduction under Chapter-VIA-B of the Income Tax Act which includes section 80C (LIC, PPF, NSC etc.), 80D (Mediclaim), 80G (Donations) etc. has also been further extended to 31st July, 2020. Hence the investment/payment can be made upto 31st July, 2020 for claiming the deduction under these sections for FY 2019-20. The Ordinance has extended the date to June 30, 2020. In this case, the end date of March 31, 2021 will not apply.
In the above cases, the end date of March 31, 2021 will not be applicable. In other cases which are not covered by the exceptions, the end date of March 31, 2021 will apply.
Direct Tax Vivad se Vishwas Act, 2020: The said Notification has extended the date for the completion or compliance of the actions which are required to be completed under the Scheme by 30th December, 2020 to 31st December, 2020 under the Direct Tax Vivad se Vishwas Act, 2020. However, this does not extend the date of payment of disputed taxes without 10% additional payment for which a separate amendment is required in the Direct Tax Vivad se Vishwas Act, 2020. The Ordinance has extended the time limit to 30-06-2020 from March 31, 2020. This time can be extended only with an amendment since there is no power conferred to the central government to extend the date by a notification. However, the Finance Minister has already announced extension of date for making payment without additional amount under the “Vivad Se Vishwas” Scheme to 31st December 2020. This notification has only extended the date of furnishing of declaration, passing of order etc. under the Scheme to 31st December, 2020.
Further Readings:
Extension of TDS payment Due Date March 2020
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