In view of the challenges faced by taxpayers in meeting the statutory and regulatory compliances due to the outbreak of COVID-19, the Government brought the Taxation and Other Laws (Relaxation of Certain Provisions) Ordinance, 2020 (‘the Ordinance’) on 31^st March, 2020 which, inter alia, extended various time limits. The Ordinance has since been replaced by the Taxation and Other Laws (Relaxation and Amendment of Certain Provisions) Act.

The Government issued a Notification on 24^th June, 2020 under the Ordinance which, inter alia, extended the due date for all Income Tax Returns for the FY 2019-20 (AY 2020-21) to 30^th November, 2020. Hence, the returns of income which were required to be filed by 31^st July, 2020 and 31^st October, 2020 were required to be filed by 30^th November, 2020. Consequently, the date for furnishing various audit reports including tax audit report under the Income-tax Act, 1961 (the Act) was also extended to 31^st October, 2020.

In order to provide more time to taxpayers for furnishing of Income Tax Returns, the due date was further extended vide notification No 88/2020/F. No. 370142/35/2020-TPL dated 29^th October, 2020:

(A) The due date for furnishing of Income Tax Returns for the taxpayers (including their partners) who are required to get their accounts audited [for whom the due date (i.e. before the said extension) as per the Act was 31^st October, 2020] was extended to 31^st January, 2021.

(B) The due date for furnishing of Income Tax Returns for the taxpayers who are required to furnish report in respect of international/specified domestic transactions [for whom the due date (i.e. before the said extension) as per the Act was 30^th November, 2020] was extended to 31^st January, 2021.

(C) The due date for furnishing of Income Tax Returns for the other taxpayers [for whom the due date (i.e. before the said extension) as per the Act was 31^st July, 2020] was extended to 31^st December, 2020.

(D) Consequently, the date for furnishing of various audit reports under the Act including tax audit report and report in respect of international/specified domestic transaction was also extended to 31^st December, 2020.

Considering the problems being faced by the taxpayers, it has been decided to provide further time to the taxpayers for furnishing of Income Tax Returns, tax audit reports and declaration under Vivad Se Vishwas Scheme. Further, in order to provide more time to taxpayers to comply under various ongoing proceedings, the dates of completion of proceedings under various Direct Taxes & Benami Acts have also been extended. These extensions are as under:

a.   The due date for furnishing of Income Tax Returns for the Assessment Year 2020-21 for the taxpayers (including their partners) who are required to get their accounts audited and companies [for whom the due date, as per the provisions of section 139(1) of the Income-tax Act,1961, was 31^st October, 2020 and which was extended to 30^th November, 2020 and then to 31^st January, 2021] has been further extended to 15^th February, 2021.

b.   The due date for furnishing of Income Tax Returns for the Assessment Year 2020-21 for the taxpayers who are required to furnish report in respect of international/specified domestic transactions [for whom the due date, as per the provisions of section 139(1) of the Income-tax Act,1961, was 30^th November, 2020 and which was extended to 31^st January, 2021] has been further extended to 15^th February, 2021.

c.   The due date for furnishing of Income Tax Returns for the Assessment Year 2020-21 for the other taxpayers [for whom the due date, as per the provisions of section 139(1) of the Income-tax Act, 1961, was 31^st July, 2020 and which was extended to 30^th November, 2020 and then to 31^st December, 2020] has been further extended to 10^th January, 2021.

d.   The date for furnishing of various audit reports under the Act including tax audit report and report in respect of international/specified domestic transaction for the Assessment Year 2020-21 has been further extended to 15^th January, 2021.

e.   The last date for making a declaration under Vivad Se Vishwas Scheme has been extended to 31^st January, 2021 from 31^st December, 2020.

f.    The date for passing of orders under Vivad Se Vishwas Scheme, which are required to be passed by 30^th January, 2021 has been extended to 31^st January, 2021.

g.   The date for passing of order or issuance of notice by the authorities under the Direct Taxes & Benami Acts which are required to be passed/ issued/ made by 30^th March, 2021 has also been extended to 31^st March, 2021.

Further, in order to provide relief for the third time to small and middle class taxpayers in the matter of payment of self-assessment tax, the due date for payment of self-assessment tax date is hereby again being extended. Accordingly, the due date for payment of self-assessment tax for taxpayers whose self-assessment tax liability is up to ₹ 1 lakh has been extended to 15^th February, 2021 for the taxpayers mentioned in para 4(a) and para 4(b) and to 10^th January, 2021 for the taxpayers mentioned in para 4(c).

The Government has also extended the due date of furnishing of annual return under section 44 of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 for the financial year 2019-20 from 31^st December, 2020 to 28^th February, 2021.

The necessary notifications in this regard shall be issued in due course.

Extension of income tax return deadlines provides staggered filing and audit-report postponements and adjusted compliance windows. Extensions of filing and compliance deadlines for AY 2020 21 moved Income Tax Return due dates and associated audit and reporting obligations through staged notifications: audited taxpayers and companies and those reporting international/specified domestic transactions were given mid February 2021 filing deadlines; other taxpayers received a January 2021 deadline; audit-report deadlines and Vivad Se Vishwas declaration and order timelines were likewise postponed; self assessment tax payment relief for smaller liabilities and an extension of the GST annual return due date were also provided.