CBDT vide a press release issued on 30.12.2020 extended the due date for furnishing the Tax Audit Report by 15 days to 15th January 2021 from 31st December 2020 and the due date for filing of Income tax returns (ITRs) for all the assessees having tax audit requirement and company assessees from 31st December 2020 to 15th February 2021 for the Assessment Year 2020-21 or financial year (FY) 2019-20. For non-audit cases, the date is extended by 10 days from 31st December 2020 to 10th January 2021.
At that time, no Notification was issued and it was stated that a notification in this regard would be issued in due course.
CBDT has issued the required Notification No. 93/2020 dated 31.12.2020 to extend the due dates for furnishing Tax Audit Report for the FY 2019-20 or AY 2020-21 from 31.12.2020 to 15.01.2021. Consequently, the due date for filing of ITR for those assessees liable for the compulsory tax audit is extended to 15.02.2021 for the assessment year 2020-21.
The Notification has further extended the due date for filing of income tax returns in non-audit cases from 31.12.2020 to 10.01.2021.
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The notification has been issued under section 3(1) of the Taxation and Other Laws (Relaxation and Amendment of Certain Provisions) Act, 2020 which empowers the central government to extend the various compliance dates under the Income Tax Act, 1961 and certain under other specified Acts.
The Notification issued is in line with the extension given by the Press Release dated 30th December 2020.
It is provided in the notification that for the AY 2020-21 for furnishing of return under section 139 of the Income Tax Act, 1961, the time-limit for furnishing of such return, shall stand extended to the 15th day of February 2021 in respect of the assessees referred to in clauses (a) and (aa) of Explanation 2 to sub-section (1) of section 139.
Clause (a) of Explanation 2 to sub-section (1) of section 139 covers a company, any person whose accounts are required to be audited and any partner of a firm whose accounts are required to be audited. Finance Act, 2020 has amended section 139 to exclude the working partners and extending the benefit to all the partners of a firm liable for the tax audit.
Clause (aa) of the said explanation applies to an assessee who is required to furnish a report referred to in section 92E.
In respect of other assessees, the time-limit for furnishing of such return stand extended to the 10th day of January 2021.
The extension of the due date shall also apply to a resident who holds as a beneficial owner or otherwise, any asset (including any financial interest in any entity) located outside India or has signing authority in any account located outside India; or is a beneficiary of any asset (including any financial interest in any entity) located outside India. In this case, the extended due date is 31.12.2020.
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The notification has further extended the due date for furnishing of any audit report under any provision of the Income Tax Act,1961, to the 15th day of January 2021. This shall apply to all types of audit report including Form 3CA-3CD, Form 3CB-CD, Form 10B, Form 10DA, Form 29B, etc.
The final extended due dates for various categories of assessees for furnishing tax audit report and ITR forms are given below-
For AY 2020-21
Though the due date for filing of Income-tax Return for the Assessment Year 2020-21 has been extended, 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 10th January 2021 or 15th February 2021 from the due date specified in section 139(1) if the self-assessment tax liability exceeds Rs. 1 Lakh. The immunity or relief 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 the self-assessment tax from the expiry of original due dates prescribed u/s 139(1), that is, 31-07-2020 or 31-10-2020, as the case may be. The interest under section 234A shall not be levied if the self-assessment tax liability of taxpayer does not exceed Rs. 1 lakh and ITR is filed within the extended due date.
The limit of Rs. 1,00,000 for non-levy of interest u/s 234A due to extension of the time limit for furnishing return is applicable to all categories of assessees including companies and tax audit cases.
Extension of various Compliances Dates to 31.03.2021
The Notification has extended the completion date of various compliances under the specified Acts to 31st March 2021 which falls between the period from 20th March 2020 to 30th March 2021. The Taxation and Other Laws (Relaxation and Amendment of Certain Provisions) Act, 2020 has already extended the said completion date to 31-03-2021 for the period between 20th March 2020 to 31st December 2020. This time the notification has expanded the compliances period to cover the period from 1st January 2021 to 30th March 2021. This shall be applicable not only to Income Tax Act, 1961 but also to seven other specified Acts in the Taxation and Other Laws (Relaxation and Amendment of Certain Provisions) Act, 2020 which are as follows-
(i) the Wealth-tax Act, 1957; 27 of 1957.
(ii) the Income-tax Act, 1961; 43 of 1961.
(iii) the Prohibition of Benami Property Transactions Act, 1988; 45 of 1988.
(iv) Chapter VII of the Finance (No. 2) Act, 2004; 22 of 2004.
(v) Chapter VII of the Finance Act, 2013; 17 of 2013.
(vi) the Black Money (Undisclosed Foreign Income and Assets) and Imposition of Tax Act, 2015; 22 of 2015.
(vii) Chapter VIII of the Finance Act, 2016; or 28 of 2016.
(viii) the Direct Tax Vivad se Vishwas Act, 2020; 3 of 2020.
It should be noted that the notification 93/2020 has only extended the date for compliances that falls under section 3(1)(a) of the Taxation and Other Laws (Relaxation and Amendment of Certain Provisions) Act, 2020. These compliances are meant for tax authorities, commission and tribunals and not for the assessee.
The said clause (a) reads as follows-
(a) completion of any proceeding or passing of any order or issuance of any notice, intimation, notification, sanction or approval or such other action, by whatever name called, by any authority, commission or tribunal, by whatever name called, under the provisions of the specified Act; or
Read the full text of Notification No. 93/2020 dated 31.12.2020 extending the due date of filing of returns and Tax Audit Report for AY 2020-21 (FY 2019-20)
MINISTRY OF FINANCE
(Department of Revenue)
(CENTRAL BOARD OF DIRECT TAXES)
NOTIFICATION
New Delhi, the 31st December, 2020
TAXATION AND OTHER LAWS
S.O. 4805(E).—In exercise of the powers conferred by sub-section (1) of section 3 of the Taxation and Other Laws (Relaxation and Amendment of Certain Provisions) Act, 2020 (38 of 2020) (hereinafter referred to the Act) and in supersession of the notification of the Government of India in the Ministry of Finance, (Department of Revenue) No. 88/2020 dated the 29th October, 2020, published in the Gazette of India, Extraordinary, Part-II, Section 3, Sub-section (ii), vide number S.O. 3906(E), dated the 29th October, 2020, except as respects things done or omitted to be done before such supersession, the Central Government hereby specifies, for the completion or compliance of action referred to in-
(A) clause (a) of sub-section (1) of section 3 of the Act, –
(i) the 30th day of March, 2021 shall be the end date of the period during which the time limit specified in, or prescribed or notified under, the specified Act falls for the completion or compliance of such action as specified under the said sub-section; and
(ii) the 31st day of March, 2021 shall be the end date to which the time limit for completion or compliance of such action shall stand extended:
Provided that where the specified Act is the Direct Tax Vivad Se Vishwas Act, 2020 (3 of 2020), the provision of this clause shall have the effect as if—
(a) for the figures, letters and words “30th day of March, 2021”, the figures, letters and words “30th day of January, 2021” had been substituted; and
(b) for the figures, letters and words “31st day of March, 2021”, the figures, letters and words “31st day of January, 2021” had been substituted:
Provided further that where the specified Act is the Income-tax Act, 1961 (43 of 1961) and completion or compliance of action referred to in clause (a) of sub-section (1) of section 3 of the Act is an order under sub-section (3) of section 92CA of the Income-tax Act, 1961, the provision of this clause shall have the effect as if—
(a) for the figures, letters and words “30th day of March, 2021”, the figures, letters and words “30th day of January, 2021” had been substituted; and
(b) for the figures, letters and words “31st day of March, 2021”, the figures, letters and words “31st day of January, 2021” had been substituted;
(B) clause (b) of sub-section (1) of section 3 of the Act, where the specified Act is the Income-tax Act, 1961 (43 of 1961) and the compliance for the assessment year commencing on the 1st day of April, 2020 relates to –
(i) furnishing of return under section 139 thereof, the time limit for furnishing of such return, shall –
(a) in respect of the assessees referred to in clauses (a) and (aa) of Explanation 2 to sub-section (1) of the said section 139, stand extended to the 15th day of February 2021; and
(b) in respect of other assessees, stand extended to the 10th day of January, 2021: Provided that the provisions of the fourth proviso to sub-section (1) of section 3 of the Act shall, mutatis mutandis apply to these extensions of due date, as they apply to the date referred to in sub-clause (b) of clause (i) of the third proviso thereof;
(ii) furnishing of report of audit under any provision of that Act, the time limit for furnishing of such report of audit shall stand extended to the 15th day of January, 2021.
2. This notification shall come into force from the date of its publication in the Official Gazette.
[Notification No. 93/2020/F. No. 370142/35/2020-TPL]
VIPUL AGARWAL, Director (Tax Policy and Legislation Division)
Download Copy of Notification No. 93/2020 dated 31.12.2020 on the extension of the due date of filing of returns and tax audit report for AY 2020-21 in pdf format
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