Fund crunch due to Covid-19 relief expenses and lower tax collections, may be a reason for delaying the uploading of some ITR Forms, so that tax refunds may be postponed.
It’s that time of the year when in normal circumstances, taxpayers – who haven’t filed their Income Tax Returns (ITR) for FY2019-20 yet – might have got worried as the July 31 deadline is about to end. During normal times, some of them even wait anxiously to hear the news of extension of the due date of filing returns.
However, due to the nationwide lockdown that was imposed to contain the spread of Novel Coronavirus Covid-19, deadlines for various compliances have been extended, including the due date for filing Income Tax Return (ITR).
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The deadline for tax-saving investments were also extended, first to June 30, 2020 and then to July 31, 2020.
Although the Financial Year (FY) 2019-20 was not extended and ended on March 31, 2020, deadlines for submission of taxes, closing of accounts etc were extended as offices remained closed on March 31, 2020 and beyond.
As a result, the due date for filing of Income Tax Return (ITR) was also extended from July 31, 2020 to November 30, 2020.
In fact the Gazette Notification of ITR Forms was released by the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) only on May 29, 2020 and Forms of ITR 1 (Sahaj), ITR 2 and ITR 4 (Sugam) are only available for e-filing so far.
Fund crunch due to excessive use of funds for Covid-19 and other relief – like cyclone, flood etc – and lower tax collections due to stalled economic activities during lockdown period, may be a reason for delaying the uploading of other ITR Forms, so that tax refunds may be postponed.
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Another reason that also delays filing of even available ITR Forms (viz. ITR 1, ITR 2 and ITR 4) is postponement of updating Form 26AS due to want of inputs.
With the extension of the date for furnishing of TDS/ TCS statements and issuance of TDS/ TCS certificates pertaining to the FY 2019-20 to July 31, 2020 and August 15, 2020 respectively, updation of Form 26AS and ITR filings get hampered.
However, you don’t have to get worried about missing the deadline, as the announcement of extending the due date of ITR filing for the Assessment Year (AY) 2020-21 to November 30, 2020 was made well in advance.
