ITR filing deadline for FY21 extended to Sept 30 due to Covid

The deadline for issuing Form 16 by employers to employees has been extended by a month till July 15, 2021, the CBDT said

Amid coronavirus pandemic, the government on Thursday decided to extend the deadline to file income tax returns for FY21 for individuals to September 30, 2021 from previoue deadline of July 31, 2021. 

"The Central Government, in continuation of its commitment to address the hardship being faced by various stakeholders on account of the severe Covid-19 pandemic, has, on consideration of representations received from various stakeholders, decided to extend timelines for compliances under the Income-tax Act,1961," said Ministry of Finance in a statement.
The ITR filing deadline for FY20 was extended to January 10, 2021.

The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has also extended the ITR filing deadline for companies by a month till November 30.

The deadline for taxpayers, like companies or firms, whose accounts are required to be audited is October 31.

CBDT also said that the deadline for issuing Form 16 by employers to employees has been extended by a month till 15 July.

"Income Tax Dept will also launch its new e-filing portal https://bsmedia.business-standard.comincometax.gov.in on 7 June, 2021. Existing ITD portal http://incometaxindiaefiling.gov.in would not be available to taxpayers/other stakeholders for a brief period of 6 days, from 1 June, 2021 to 6 June, 2021," according to a statement from the Income Tax Department.

The due date for filing the tax audit report and transfer pricing certificate has been extended by a month till October 31 and November 30, respectively. For filing belated or revised return of income, the due date is now January 31, 2022.

Besides, the deadline for financial institutions to furnish the Statement of Financial Transaction (SFT) report has been extended till June 30, from May 31, 2021.

Nangia & Co LLP Partner Shailesh Kumar said the extension of due dates is likely to provide some relief to taxpayers on the tax compliance front.

"However, for taxpayers, whose entire income tax liability is not discharged by TDS and advance tax and such shortfall is more than Rs 1 lakhs, they should endeavour to file their ITR within respective original due date to avoid the charge of interest u/s 234A, which is charged on filing ITR beyond the original due date at the rate of 1 per cent per month for every month/ part thereof after the original due date of filing ITR," Kumar added.

The CBDT had on April 1 notified forms for filing I-T returns for 2020-21 fiscal, and said that keeping in view the ongoing crisis due to COVID pandemic and to facilitate the taxpayers, no significant change has been made in comparison to the last year's ITR Forms. The new ITR forms ask taxpayers if they are opting for a new tax regime.

For the 2020-21 fiscal, the government had given taxpayers the option to choose a new tax regime under section 115BAC of the I-T Act.

The new I-T slabs would be for individuals not availing or foregoing certain specified deductions or exemptions while computing total income for tax purpose.

Under this, annual income up to Rs 2.5 lakh is exempt from tax. Those individuals earning between Rs 2.5 lakh and Rs 5 lakh will pay 5 per cent tax. Income between Rs 5 and 7.5 lakh will be taxed at 10 per cent, while those between Rs 7.5 and 10 lakh at 15 per cent.

Those earning between Rs 10 and 12.5 lakh will pay tax at the rate of 20 per cent, while those between Rs 12.5 and Rs 15 lakh will pay at the rate of 25 per cent. Income above Rs 15 lakh will be taxed at 30 per cent.