Finance Minister Ms. Nirmala Sitaraman on 24/03/2020 declared that the Income Tax Return and GST Return filings have been extended to another three months. The final date of filing these returns has been fixed as June 30, 2020. This decision has been taken by the Ministry on account of the adversity the country is facing because of the pandemic. The Corona outbreak has made a negative impact on the business as well as personal life of the Indian people and this decision taken by the Finance Ministry is truly befitting the tough phase the people are going through.
The honourable minister has also added that the time limit for repayment of loans and bad debt shall also be extended, the details of which shall be shared by the Minister in the near future.
Following are the decisions the Finance Minister declared in her latest conference…
Income Tax
- The Income Tax Returns of 2018-19 have been extended to June 30, 2020
- IT returns filed after the extended date will draw an interest rate that has been reduced from 12% to 9%
- The Tax Deducted at Source (TDS) can be remitted till June 30, the interest has been reduced from 18% to 9%
- ‘Vivaad se Vishwas’ scheme extended to June 30, without the 10% additional payment to be paid
Aadhaar-PAN
- Aadhaar-PAN linking has been extended to June 30
- GST returns for the months of March, April and May have been extended to June 30
- Final date to join the Composition Scheme and final date for Composition Returns have been extended to June 30
- For companies less than Rs.5 Cr turnover, there will not be any charge of late fee or penalty payment. However, companies with more than Rs.5 Cr threshold limit will draw an interest rate of 9% for delayed payment.
Banking & ATM
- Bank service charges for utilizing their ATM services have been withdrawn. Customers can use their debit cards in any ATM of any banks for withdrawing money,
- There is no more Minimum Balance requirement for savings accounts
- Charges have been reduced for digital trade transactions
Customs
- For Indirect Taxes that comes under ‘Sabka Vishwas Scheme’ having the final date as March 31, the date has been extended to June 30 without any interest
- Customs duty will work 24X7 till June 30
Corporates
- There will be no additional fees for late filing and a moratorium will be implemented from April 1 till September 30 with reference to the MCA21 registry
- All board meetings are to be suspended for the next two quarters which is an approximate total of 60 days
- For new companies that commenced its operations recently, an additional six months is given for filing declaration of Commencement of Business
- A company director who fails to comply with minimum residency requirement of 182 days, will not be treated as a violation as against the present practices
Insolvency & Bankruptcy
- The default threshold is increased from Rs.1 Lakh to Rs.1 Cr to prevent insolvency proceedings for MSMEs
- If the situation continues beyond April, then Section 7, 9 and 10 of IBC will be suspended for a time period of 6 months
