The Chamber Of Tax Consultants has requested to extend the due dates for Tax Audit and Transfer Pricing Audit to February 28, 2021 and Income Tax Return filing to March 31, 2021.
Relevant Text of their representation to Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman, The Hon’ble Union Finance Minister, Government of India, North Block, New Delhi is as follows-
Sub: Request for extension of Due Dates for Tax Audit, Transfer Pricing Audit and Income Tax Return Filing for the Assessment Year 2020-21
The Chamber of Tax Consultants, established in 1926, is one of the oldest non-profit organizations of tax practitioners of Mumbai, having Advocates, Chartered Accountants and Tax Practitioners as its members. Many senior tax professionals who regularly appear before ITAT, high courts and the Supreme Court are its Past Presidents. We have been making regular representations before various government agencies.
The Chamber regularly takes up initiatives to act as a bridge between stakeholders and concerned regulatory bodies in order to convey and help in resolving genuine grievances or effectively implement the laws.
Today, we come forth with a request of extending the due dates of Tax Audit and Transfer Pricing Audit to February 28, 2021 and Income Tax Return filing to March 31, 2021. Our request is based on 2 major pillars:
1. The Covid-19 Pandemic
We commend the Government for the way the pandemic has been efficiently tackled during the various phases of lockdown and unlock. We also appreciate the extension provided for tax audit and income tax return filing up to December 31, 2020.
But, while the country has been unlocked as a whole, several state governments have individually imposed various restrictions based on the spread and severity of the Corona virus in the state. Inter-state movement is restricted to an extent in certain states. The intra-state movement is also restricted. States like Gujarat, Rajasthan, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh have imposed night curfew. In a city like Mumbai, whose lifeline is its local trains, the metros and local trains are not running till date. The transport via public buses is not easily accessible. Nation-wide, there is still a huge fear of getting infected among the people due to which they prefer not travelling at all or restrict it to the vicinity of their homes. Due to this restriction of movement, several industries and private offices have still not started fully functioning and are still struggling to function at a certain level of normalcy. This also includes the offices of the Chartered Accountants and Tax Practitioners.
Due to this, the details required for completing audits and carrying on tax audit and filing the return of income are not being received promptly and thus the audits cannot be efficiently performed.
Also travelling to the place of audit without availability of trains is very difficult for the professionals and their staff in a city like Mumbai as well as the curfews imposed have curtailed work hours in other cities.
Several Chartered Accountants, Tax Practitioners and there staff have been infected and have not been able to work for minimum of 14 days. Also visiting any audit place all the more exposes them to the virus making them prone to get infected.
In addition to this, the senior citizens are advised to stay at home. This includes senior professionals and senior assesses who following this advice will not be able to comply with the existing due dates.
These hindrances are making it very difficult for the assessees, the Chartered Accountants and the Tax Practitioners to comply with even the extended due dates.
2. Delay in release of utilities and instructions
The utilities for the income tax return were made available only June’20 onwards instead of April’20.
Following is the chart showing the release date and the latest update date:
| Sr. No. | Income Tax Return |
Schema Release Date |
Schema Updation Date |
Utility Updation Date |
| 1 | ITR 1 | June 2, 2020 | September 9, 2020 | December 1, 2020 |
| 2 | ITR 2 | June 26, 2020 | November 4, 2020 | December 3, 2020 |
| 3 | ITR 3 | July 31, 2020 | November 9, 2020 | December 1, 2020 |
| 4 | ITR 4 | June 5, 2020 | October 15, 2020 | December 1, 2020 |
| 5 | ITR 5 | August 25, 2020 | November 18, 2020 | December 3, 2020 |
| 6 | ITR 6 | September 22, 2020 |
November 22, 2020 | December 3, 2020 |
| 7 | ITR 7 | September 3, 2020 |
December 8, 2020 | December 8, 2020 |
| 8 | Form 3CA-3CD | – | November 4, 2020 | – |
| 9 | Form 3CA-3CD | – | November 4, 2020 | – |
| 10 | Form 3CEB | – | November 4, 2020 | – |
Usually, the income tax returns must be released in the month of April but due to the pandemic, the release of the returns have been delayed on an average by 4 months. Additionally, even after release, they have been constantly updated.
Although the utilities were released as on the above mentioned dates, the 700+ paged instructions for filing the return of income were released only on October 23, 2020. These instructions were further revised on November 25, 2020 i.e. just a month before the due date of filing of income tax return, not giving the professionals and assessees enough time to even take a note of the most important points.
These are indeed unusual times and when the dates were last extended one had expected a reasonable resumption of activities – however the second predicted phase of COVID spread resulted in a slow unlockdown compared to what was expected and hence the earlier date of December end which seemed reasonable at one time is now looking like an impossibility.
With due respect to the above difficulties faced by the assessees and the professionals, we request your Honour to take them into consideration and extend the due dates for Tax Audit and Transfer Pricing Audit to February 28, 2021 and Income Tax Return filing to March 31, 2021. The entire fraternity of taxpayer and professionals will highly appreciate if this is done soon enough (i.e. well in advance) to allow them to get a clarity.
Download Representation by Chamber Of Tax Consultants in PDF Format
Also Read:-
| S. No. | Date | Association | Particulars with link |
| 1 | 9 Dec 2020 | Western Maharashtra Tax Practitioners | Extend due dates of Tax Audit & ITR for AY 2020–21 |
| 2 | 12 Dec 2020 | Gujarat Sales Tax Bar | Extend GSTR-9/9A/9C due date for FY 2019-20 to 30/06/2021 |
| 3 | 12 Dec 2020 | Chamber of Tax Consultants | Extend due dates for Tax/Transfer Pricing Audit & ITR for AY 2020-21 |
| 4 | 12 Dec 2020 | Tax Practitioner’s Association, Indore | Extend due dates for filing Tax/TP Audit Report & ITR for AY 2020-21 |
| 5 | 14 Dec 2020 | AGFTC, ITBC and CAA | Extend due dates of Tax Audit Reports/ITR for A.Y. 2020-21 |
| 6 | 15 Dec 2020 | BCAS, CAA (Ahmedabad), CAA (Surat), KSCAA & LCAS | Request to Extend Due dates under GST & Income Tax |
| 7 | 15 Dec 2020 | Tax Bar Association, Bhilwara | Request to extend Due Date of filing of Tax Audit & ITR |
| 8 | 15 Dec 2020 | Direct Taxes Professionals’ Association, Kolkata | Extend due date of ITR & Tax Audit for AY 2020-21 |
| 9 | 16 Dec 2020 | Lucknow CA Tax Practioners’ Association | Extend Due date for filing Tax Audit Report & ITR |
| 10 | 16 Dec 2020 | Jamshedpur Chartered Accountants | Extend Due Date of filing Tax Audit & ITR to 31.03.2021 |
| 11 | 13 Dec 2020 | Direct Taxes Committee of ICAI | ICAI requests for extension of various Income-tax due dates |
| 12 | 10 Dec 2020 | Udaipur Tax Bar Association | Further extend due dates of ITR & Tax Audit Reports for FY 2019-20 |
| 13 | 15 Dec 2020 | CA Social Affiliation (CASA) | Extend Tax/TP Audit Report & ITR filing due date for AY 2020-21 |
| 14 | 19 Dec 2020 | Chartered Accountants Association, Jalandhar | Extend Due Dates for Tax Audit and Income Tax Return Filing |
| 15 | 19 Dec 2020 | All India Federation of Tax Practitioners (CZ) | Request for extension of due dates of Tax Audit Reports/ITR |
| 16 | 19 Dec 2020 | Vyyapaar Mandal Association, Nagore & AIMTPA | Extended Income Tax & GST Audit/Return/Compliance dates |
| 17 | 17 Dec 2020 | Emerging Businesses Chamber Of Commerce | Extend due dates for Income Tax Audit & Returns for AY 2020-21 |
| 18 | Dec 2020 | The Uttar Pradesh Tax Bar Association | Representation for Extension of time for Tax Audit & Return |
| 19 | 19 Dec 2020 | Tax Bar Association, Guwahati | Extend Tax Audit/ITR due dates for AY 2020-21 |
| 20 | 21 Dec 2020 | Tax Bar Association, Guwahati | Extend due dates of GSTR-9/ GSTR-9C for FY 2018-19 & 2019-20 |
| 21 | 17 Dec 2020 | Karnataka State Chartered Accountants Association | Waive Late Fees for Delayed Filing of GST Returns |
| 22 | 15 Dec 2020 | Direct Taxes Professionals’ Association | Extend Vivad Se Vishwas Scheme due date to 15.03.2021 |
| 23 | 15 Dec 2020 | Direct Taxes Professionals’ Association | Extend due date of AGM to 31st March 2021 |
| 24 | 15 Dec 2020 | Association of Tax payers & Professional, Agra | Extend due of GSTR-9, GSTR-9A & GSTR-9C |
| 25 | 08 Dec 2020 | Tax Bar Association (Regd), Allahabad | Extend due date of ITR/Tax Audit/GSTR-9/GSTR-9C |
| 26 | 08 Dec 2020 | Tax Consultant & Practitioners Association of Kerala | Extend due of ITR, GSTR 9, 9A & 9C for FY 2018-19 & 2019-20 |
| 27 | 21 Dec 2020 | Tax Bar Association, Guwahati | Extend CFSS 2020 & LLP Settlement Scheme 2020 to 31.03.2021 |
| 28 | 22 Dec 2020 | Income Tax Bar Association, Lucknow | Extend Time for filing ITR & Audit Report for A.Y 2020-21 |
| 28 | 22 Dec 2020 | 53 GST and Trade Associations | 53 Associations requests Extension for GSTR 9, 9A & 9C |
| 29 | 16 Dec 2020 | Chandigarh Chartered Accountants Taxation Association | Extend Income Tax & GST Return & Audit due dates |
| 30 | 22 Dec 2020 | Bhayander CA Social Group | Request to extend Due date of Annual GST Return & Audit |
| 31 | 22 Dec 2020 | Luminaires Accessories Components Manufacturers Association | Extend due dates for Tax Audit & Income Tax Return filing for AY 2020-21 |
| 32 | 22 Dec 2020 | All Professionals, Tax Payers and Stakeholders | Open letter for extension of Due dates under Income Tax and GST |
| 33 | 22 Dec 2020 | Punjab Accountants Association | Extend due date for filing ITR & Tax Audit Report- AY 2020-21 |
| 34 | 22 Dec 2020 | Bhayander CA Social Group | Extend Income Tax Audit & ITR Due dates for AY 2020-21 |
| 35 | 23 Dec 2020 | The Tax Bar Association, Odisha | Extend due dates of Audit Reports, ITRs, GST Returns, VSV Scheme |
| 36 | 21 Dec 2020 | Sales Tax Bar Association, Delhi | Extend Tax/TP Audit & ITR Due dates for AY 2020-21 |
| 37 | 23 Dec 2020 | Direct Taxes Professionals’ Association | Extend Income Tax, Companies & CGST Act compliance due dates |
| 38 | 24 Dec 2020 | ICSI | Extend due dates of CFSS, LLPSS, Charge Forms, Meetings |
| 39 | 24 Dec 2020 | All Odisha Tax Advocates Association | Extend due date for filing TAR/ITR/GSTR9/9A/9C |
| 40 | 25 Dec 2020 | BJP Economic Cell, Rajasthan | Extend Income Tax, GST, LLP, Company Law due dates |
| 41 | 23 Dec 2020 | Hyderabad Chartered Accountants’ Society | Extend Due date under GST and Income Tax |
| 42 | 22 Dec 2020 | A. P. Tax Bar Association, Vijayawada | Extend date of filing of GSTR 9, GSTR 9C and IT returns |
| 43 | 03 Jan 2021 | National Company Law Tribunal Bar Association | Representation for further extension of CFSS 2020 |
| 44 | 25 Nov 2020 | Merchants Chamber of Uttar Pradesh | Request for extension of Company Fresh Start Scheme 2020 |
| 45 | 04 Jan 2021 | Adv. Anuj Bhatt | Request to President to take Suo-Moto cognizance of GST Issues |
| 46 | 03 Jan 2021 | The Chamber of Tax Consultants | Extend Income-tax due dates with humane approach |
| 47 | 01 Jan 2021 | WMTPA | Highly Disappointing GST Audit Due Date Extension |
| 48 | 01 Jan 2021 | The A.P. Tax Bar Association, Vijayawada | Extend due date of Form GSTR 9 and 9C for year 2018-19 |
IT IS MOST HUMBLE REQUEST TO ANNOUNCE DUE DATES EXTENSION AS STATED IN ABOVE REPRESENTATION IN A VERY NICE MANNER. LOGICALLY ALSO IT NEEDS TO BE DONE. SIR, IT IS NATIONAL INTEREST IF ASSETS OF OUR COUNTRY , CHARTERED ACCOUNTANTS FRATERNITY, IS NOT KEPT UNDER UNDUE STRESS. WORKING UNDER STRESS DOES NOT BRING APPRECIABLE RESULTS
Due to lock down still at home town but there is huge pressure from business owner to co ordinate with CA and complete the ITR return. As CA also not available at this time its a big mess up all around. Kindly accept the request and extend the due date.
Kindly extend the date, very much needed please humble request.
Please extend the date of Tax Audit to 28-2-2021 & I.T.Return filing date to 31-3-2021.
Due to the nonavailability of trains, our staff cannot reach the office for data verification.
Please consider our practical problems before arriving at any decisons.
Kindly extend the date, very much needed please humble request.
Following Points to be Considered by CBDT &
Finanace Ministry.
Dates should be extended till March 2021 for both tax audit and unaudit returns.
They do not understand problems facing by CA’s and Tax Practitioners.
Lack of Staff in our office as well as in client office due to fear of Corona,
Passbook/bank statements/loans principle interest statements etc Printing Machines are not working in many banks and in addition server problems faced by bankers,
New ITR Versions are not opening without Office13,
Details they want in Returns are much more than Last Year,
3CB, 3CD are Complicated than Last Year,
Routine GST Returns are changing,
Notices from GST Department of previous years.
local elections in many areas are also disturbing in filling our returns.
In telangana state people are tensed with new government policies of land registration which affecting the financial position of individuals aswell business people for LRS (no money so not responding for filling ITR)
Yes, Due to Covid-19 Lockdown the due date 31.12.2020 should be extended till 31st March,2021. Moreover, the return preparation software Java & Excel Utility also not working properly, it talking too time to fill up under section 112A LTCG chart.
Protiv Kumar Chakraborty, Advocate
Everyone has been affected due to C0vid-19 pandemic during this year 2020. Extension of time upto 31st March, 2021 for all tax audit and non tax audit filing of returns may be considered by the Hon’ble Finance Ministry in the larger interests of the clients and the tax professionals fraternity as a special case under the principles of natural justice. An early compliance in this regard would be highly appreciated !!
It must be highlighted that in Mumbai, in particular, local train services are not fully available creating a big problem for our staff. Commuting by bus or any other vehicle takes 3 times more time and that too is energy sapping. Most staff members are unable to attend office regularly. Therefore, extension of due date is absolutely necessary.
In Mumbai, still no local train(Mumbai lifeline) services so travel of staff/clients/accountants is time consuming-tiresome
No revenue loss it is administrative relief in current extraordinary situation
Request early announcement by15-12-20 to reduce our EVERY DAY tension ,blood pressure –
Income tax return filing date for the assessment year 2020-2021 should be extended to 31.03.2021 for all categories of assesses, audited as well as non audited .
Following Points to be Considered by CBDT &
Finanace Ministry.
Dates should be extended till March 2021.
They do not understand problems facing by CA’s and Tax Practitioners.
Lack of Staff in our office as well as in client office,
Fear of Corona,
Passbook Printing Machines are not working in many banks,
New ITR Versions are not opening without Office13,
Details they want in Returns are much more than Last Year,
3CB, 3CD are Complicated than Last Year,
Routine GST Returns are changing,
Notices from GST Department.
Lack of facility of Transportation
Main covid 19 and staff Corona and clients communication not properl
Yes extension for March 2021 all return
Yes we also agree with your request.We also want to extend the due date for IT return filing and Audit report.
Mainly my heart bypass opearation was conduted 10th.october2019 . allmost staff are not comming office in proper manner. Parents of staff having fear to release their boys n girl to go office regularly.