Extend due dates of ITR & Tax audit report submission

Chandigarh Chartered Accountants Taxation Association has made a representation to Finance Minister for Extension of due dates of Income tax returns & Submission of Tax audit reports for FY 2020-21 (AY 2021-22) in view of Practical difficulties faced by taxpayers & tax professionals in filing Income tax returns, tax audit form. Full Text of their representation is as follows:-

Chandigarh Chartered Accountants Taxation Association

To,

Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman
Hon’ble Union Minister of Finance,
Ministry of Finance,
Government of India,
North Block,
New Delhi — 110001

Respected Madam,

Re: Request for Extension of due dates of Income tax returns & Submission of Tax audit reports for FY 2020-21 (AY 2021-22).

Chandigarh Chartered Accountants Association (CCATAX) is an association of Chartered Accountants, registered under the Indian Trust Act. CCATAX is primarily formed for the welfare of Chartered Accountants and represents before various regulatory authorities to resolve the professional problems faced by chartered accountants. CCATAX regularly conducts seminars, conferences, workshops, study circle meetings of professional interest for members and the public. The Association also conducts Endowment lectures.

At the outset, we would like to appreciate the initiative taken by the Government with the launch of the New Income Tax Portal for providing better services to the Taxpayers. We also understand that any such change takes time to stabilize the smooth functioning of the same. Since the launch of the new Income Tax Portal in June 2021, though, many glitches noticed in its working have been removed & it led to the filing of quite some Income Tax Returns and Forms. However, if the filing data is analyzed, we find that most of the filed ITRs are for Assesses who have Income from Salary, Interest etc. as the Income Tax Returns for Companies, Business Income, TAR etc. are not getting filed smoothly through, due to many technical problems, which persist in the portal and it is also taking considerable time and energy of the Assesses and Professionals if at all, it is accepted by the system.

Practical difficulties faced by taxpayers & tax professionals in filing Income tax returns, tax audit forms

There has also been constant updating of the utilities and instructions for filing the Income Tax returns (ITR) and Tax audit reports. For instance, the utility for ITR-5 was updated on 9th December 2021, for ITR-6 on 3rd December 2021 and for Income Tax forms (forms 3CA/CB-3CD) the latest version was released on 9th December 2021. The software companies also take time to update the same and hence the filings are getting delayed.

The non-working of DSC functionality in many cases is causing problems.

The due date of scrutiny assessments for A Y 2018-19 & other scrutiny assessments under other sections is 31^st December 2021. Tax professionals find it almost impossible to file ITR, Tax audit reports, GSTR-9, GSTR-9C audit & to comply with the scrutiny assessments, altogether, in the given time.

Charitable Organization is required to furnish Audit Report in prescribed Form 10B u/s. 12A (b) of the Income Tax Act, 1961, the Charitable Organizations and Auditors are facing hardship in respect furnishing Audit Report in Form No. 10B. The web portal is not allowing and not accepting Audit Report in Form No. 10B in many cases which causes many hardships.

There are operational challenges as well, For instance, the e-filing portal is too slow, filing Form 67 as required for a claim of foreign tax credit and resetting the password is still not possible in the absence of an Indian mobile number or net banking. Further, the AIS and TIS have been made available recently giving very little time for taxpayers review before 31 December. As taxpayers are encouraged to review the information in these forms before filing the returns

Further, we are also facing issues in uploading specific forms and reports like Form 10-IC (domestic company choosing to pay tax at concessional rate @ 22% under Section 115BAA of the Act), Form 29B (for MAT) and transfer pricing report u/s 92E of the Act.

The due date of other statutory compliances under the Direct Taxes and Indirect Taxes clashes on the scheduled due date on 31^st December, Due to that the Tax Professional also facing hardship on the ground of conflicting with the due date.

Issues in the filing of ITR Returns as Representative Assesses as Legal Heirs, mentally incapacitated person or a person of unsound mind and Official Liquidators, etc. g hardship on the ground of conflicting with the due date.

The Centre on Tuesday on 21/12/2021 asked states to impose night curfew and strictly regulate large gatherings amid a surge in cases of the Omicron coronavirus variant in different parts of the country.

Therefore we humbly pray for an extension up to 31 March 2022& is requested to be granted. Needless to mention the pandemic is not yet over & it has played a crucial role in the non-functioning of the offices of professionals and taxpayers. The number of staff available is much lesser than before, due to Corona restrictions.

We look forward to early consideration of the above said. With humble regards,

For Chandigarh Chartered Accountants Taxation Association

Sd/-

CA Manoj Kohli.
Secretary
Dated: 21/12/2021
Chandigarh.
SCO 1004-05 Sector 22B Chandigarh-160022
Tel-0172-2777742 [email protected]

Copy to- Chairman, Central Board of Direct Taxes

Top Representation Published on Taxguru requesting for Extension of Due Dates of ITRs, Tax Audit Report, Transfer Pricing Audit, GSTR-9, GSTR-9C and Annual ROC Forms related to Companies and LLP –

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