Coronavirus –Tax Due Dates Extension

On account of the shutdown in India due to Coronavirus, the Government has extended various compliance due dates. The announcement for the extension was made by the Hon’ble Finance Minister Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman on 24th March 2020 as under:

Income Tax Due Date Extension

FY18-19 last date for filing income tax return has been extended to 30th June 2020. For delayed income tax payment made till 30th June 2020, delayed payment on income tax will be reduced to 9% from 12%.

No due date extension for TDS deposit, but delayed deposit of TDS – will attract only a reduced interest of 9% till 30th June 2020. The current rate for delayed deposit of TDS is 18%.

Various other income tax due date extensions have been extended to 30th June 2020.

• Aadhaar PAN Linking Due Date will be 30th June 2020.
• Vivad Se Vishwas Scheme has been extended till 30th June 2020. From now till 30th June, there will be no additional 10% charge as well after 31st March 2020.
• Due date for issue of notice, intimation, appeal, furnishing of returns, reports and any other documents/compliance by the taxpayer including investment in savings investment or roll-over capital gains benefit or Wealth Tax Act or Benami Act or Black Money Act or STT Law or CTT Law or Equalisation Levy where the time limit expired on 20th March 2020 will be 30th June 2020.

Indirect Tax Due Date Extensions

• Those having aggregate annual turnover less than Rs. 5 Crore can file GSTR-3B due in March, April and May 2020  by the last week of  June, 2020. No interest, late fee, and penalty to be charged.
• Others can file returns due in March, April and May 2020 by last week of June 2020  but the same would attract reduced rate of interest @9 % per annum from  15 days after due date (current interest rate is  18 % per annum). No late fee and penalty to be charged, if complied before till 30th June 2020.
• Date for opting for composition scheme is extended till the last week of   June, 2020.  Further, the last date for making payments for the quarter ending 31st March, 2020 and filing of  return for 2019-20 by the composition dealers  will be extended  till the last week of June, 2020.
• Date for filing GST annual returns of FY 18-19, which is due on 31st March, 2020 is extended till the last week of  June 2020.
• Due date for issue of notice, notification, approval order, sanction order, filing of appeal, furnishing of return, statements, applications, reports, any other documents, time limit for any compliance under the GST laws where the time limit is expiring between 20th March 2020  to 29th June 2020 shall be extended to 30th June 2020.
• Necessary legal circulars and legislative amendments to give effect  to the aforesaid GST relief shall follow with the approval of GST Council.
• Payment date under SabkaVishwas Scheme shall be extended to 30th June, 2020. No interest for this period shall be charged if paid by 30th June, 2020.

MCA Due Date Extensions

• There is a moratorium from 1st April 2020 to 30th June 2020. There will not be any fees for late filing.
• There will be no requirement for holding board meeting for 60 days and no physical requirement is now required for conducting board meetings.
• Applicability of Companies Auditors Report Order (CARO) 2020 will be applicable from 2020-21 instead of 2019-20.
• For the year 2019-20, if the independent Director of the company has not been able to conduct even one meeting – it will not be held as a violation.
• For newly incorporated companies, there is a requirement to file Commencement of Business within 6 months. This compliance deadline has now been extended to 12 months.
• If there no Director in a company who does not comply with minimum residence requirement (182 days or more), this was earlier treated as a violation. This violation is now removed.
• There is an requirement to invest 15% of debenture before 30th April 2020. This can now be done till 30th June 2020.

Insolvency & Bankruptcy

The threshold for default classification under Insolvency and Bankruptcy is Rs.1 lakh currently. This has been immediately increased to Rs. 1 crore to prevent usage of the IBC Act against MSMEs. If COVID-19 situation continues after 30 April, 2020, various provisions of IBC would be suspended by the Government to protect businesses.