Bikaner Tax Consultants Association has made a representation to Union Minister of Finance, Chairman, Central Board of Direct Taxes and Revenue Secretary, Government of India on 29.07.2022 for extension of due date of Income Tax Returns (For Non-Audit Cases). Relevant text of their representation is as follows:-
SUBJECT: REPRESENTATION IN RESPECT TO DUE DATE FOR FILING INCOME TAX RETURNS (FOR NON-AUDIT CASES)
Greeting of the sesason from the members of Bikaner Tax Consultants Assocaition.
We, Bikaner Tax Consultants Association, A joint association of advocates and chartered accountants of Bikaner. The association is primarily formed to represents before various regulatory authorities to resolve the problems/hardships on taxation issues faced by Chartered Accountants, Tax consultants and the business community as well. We appreciate the steps taken by you for the tax reforms.
Due Date u/s 139(11
We wish to bring to your notice that for the assessee, who is not required to get the books of accounts audited are required to file their return of income tax u/s 139(1) for which the due date for filing is 315I July every year. The due date is important for multiple criteria such as carry forward of losses and avoid late filing fees.
Substantial Increase in Assessee base
Over the years, the reporting requirements and compliances under the Income Tax Act has increased substantially and the dependence on the data populated through third party compliances like TDS / TCS and multiple types of SFT is increasing. With increase in limit of turnover for audit u/s 44AB up to Rs. 10 Cr., the number of assessee, who are required to file the return of Income Tax by 31s1 July has increased than before.the number of assessee, who are required to file the return of Income Tax by 31s1 July has increased than before.
You will appreciate the fact that for all these assessee, the compliance burden has not reduced and even when tax audit report u/s 44AB is not required, while filing the income tax return, reporting under various sections such as 43B, 269SS, 269T, 269ST, 40A(2)(b) etc., adjustments due to ICDS and disallowance of expenses due to pplicability of the provisions of TDS / TCS under various sections is equally applicable and it requires professional assistance, thorough review of books of accounts and preparation of financial statements in accordance with various applicable standards and provisions.
Automated Processing & Reliance upon Auto Populated Data
After e-filing started from AY 2007-08, dependence on information technology tools for automated processing of the Income Tax Returns are increasing year after year. At the Centralized Processing Centre, the Income Tax Returns are processed based on the filing details and verification of the same with 26AS, Audit Reports & other parameters. With introduction of new Income Tax Portal from last year, the aim of Government is also foAcdussed on auto populated data and quick processing of Income Tax Returns with help of third-party data generated from TDS / TCS & SFT.
It needs to be noted that the due dates for filing TDS returns is 31st May every year. With the TDS / TCS provisions on so many transactions, most of the assessee have TDS / TCS credit which needs to be claimed in the Income Tax Return, which also needs to be claimed based on TDS/ TCS certificates issued from TRACES and matching with 26AS, as CPC will not allow TDS / TCS credit which do not reflect in 26AS. Same goes with SET where various transactions keep updating In AIS / TIS till the end of the month of June.
It must be noted that this is not related to only small and medium businesses who are not able to update details related to IDS / TCS and SFT in time. There are many large and listed corporates, NBFCs and even Banks who file data late, which makes it really difficult for taxpayers to determine actual tax liability and tax credits.
Due to this reason, the actual possibility for filing the Income Tax Return starts only after 10th June, which effectively leaves 50 days including weekends and holidays up to due date 31s1 July.
Detailed Reporting
The Income Tax Returns require lot of data as compared to earlier. Capital Gain requires extra efforts to report due to grandfathering, ISIN reporting etc. The formats of Financial Statements for non-corporate business entities are changed recently. Even dividend needs to be bifurcated in 5 parts for calculation of interest u/s 2348 & C. Reporting all details correctly requires much more time than before. An average Income Tax Return preparation takes almost 1.5 times more time than two years back is what most of the tax professionals would agree.
Technological Hurdles with new Income Tax Portal
With introduction of new Income Tax Portal last year, there are always new technological issues popping up every now then. The support from the support team is not timely and at times the proper solution is not provided.
Utilities & Schema: Every year, there are lot of changes in the forms of Income Tax Returns. The utilities and schema are not released on time. A lot of tax professionals depend upon third party software providers who require schema to set all validations for generation of .JSON file for Income Tax Return. Even when forms are released by the CBDT at the start of the year, these utilities and schema keep changing every few days. The filer must verify that he / she is using the latest utility or schema to ensure successful filing.
It must be brought to your kind attention that for AY 2022-23, the utility for ITR-5 was released on 13th July, 2022, which is quite late and leaving almost no breathing space considering the due date of 31″ July.
Extension of Due Date is need of Hour
Filing true and proper details in Income Tax Return is very crucial. Missing to report something may attract future litigation and penal provisions. When everyone has a multiple source of income and transactions to report, having such short time to file return is not justified.
With increased taxpayers base overall and with liberal provisions to enable ease of doing business by the government where tax audit limit is increased to 10 Cr. there is a substantial increase in the numbers of assessee who require to file their Income Tax Returns before 31st July. In such case, considering issues of delayed release of utility every year and dependency on third party reporting of data & taxes as already mentioned earlier, the current due date of 31s1 July seems impractical and gives very short time span to comply.
Request for Extension
Though each and member is toiling the midnight oil to complete the task, ignoring the health issues as wel, it is not possible for us to complete the task with in the given time hence It is our humble request that considering all the points as mentioned above, the due date for filing Income Tax Return u/s 139(1) for the assessee not required to get the books of accounts audited for the Assessment Year 2022-23 should be extended at least up to 31st August, 2022 at earliest.
Also, we request you to consider the points as mentioned above and in the light of that, the CBDT and the Government should change the due date u/s 139(1) for the assessee not required to get the books of accounts audited to 31st August for all the upcoming years as a proactive taxpayer friendly measure. That will surely send positive vibes amongst all the taxpayers and fraternity of tax professionals.
We know that your govt is very proactive in listening with open heart the tax payer’s problem and resolving there to. We assure all out support and co-operation in guiding the taxpayers in fulfilling their compliance obligations required by law and being the connecting link between the taxpayers and the Government.
Yours Truly,
For and behalf of
Bikaner Tax Consultants Association,
(CA Manak Chand Kochar)
Secretary
My account is with IDBI Bank for which i got sms as Due upgration service the transactions cannot be done till tomorrow evening 9.00 pm, please extend the due date till 31st august