CAIT Requests Government to Extend Due Dates by Three Months

The Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) has urged the government to defer compliance under the Goods and Services Tax (GST) and the Income Tax Act by three months after the COVID-19 second wave in the country. The CAIT represents around eight crore traders across 40,000 trade associations in India.

The CAIT Secretary General Praveen Khandelwal states that the daily business loss due to lockdown in Delhi approximates to Rs.600 crore. In contrast, overall India, the daily loss could be approximate Rs.30,000 crore considering complete lockdown, partial lockdown, night curfews, and other restrictions.

Hence, the trader’s body urged the Union Finance Minister Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman considers the present situation in the country and requested to postpone the compliances that traders have to comply with within April 2021. Also, the CAIT pointed out its concern about the huge penalties to be paid by traders in case of non-compliance with the laws.

The CAIT stated that state governments are taking strict preventive measures such as complete lockdown, night curfew, 72-hour lockdown to restrict the spread of COVID-19 in their states. In these challenging times, it will not be possible to comply with all these statutory compliances in time.

In April 2021, there are due dates for GST returns such as GSTR-3B, GSTR-1, GSTR-4, CMP-08, GSTR-5, GSTR-5A, GSTR-6, GSTR-7, and GSTR-8. April 2021 also consists of compliance under the Income Tax Act 1961, such as due dates for issuing TDS certificate for tax deducted under section 194-IA, 194-IB, and 194M, along with due dates for furnishing form 15CC, form 3BB, form 24G etc.

The government had announced relief for taxpayers and other stakeholders by extending the deadline for payments under the Direct Tax Vivad Se Vishwas Act, 2020, by two months till 30th June 2021. The Finance Ministry also extended the time limit to 30th June 2021 for passing any order for assessment or reassessment under the Income Tax Act, 1961. Also, the time limit under section 153, section 153B, section 144C, section 148 and section 168 of the Finance Act 2016 have been extended to 30th June 2021.

India has been witnessing a surge in COVID-19 cases since mid-February amid the second wave of the pandemic. The country faces a shortage of critical life-saving supplies such as medical oxygen and reporting the highest number of cases in a day. In this situation, the CAIT hopes that the government will consider their request and extends the due dates for compliances.

For any clarifications/feedback on the topic, please contact the writer at dvsr.anjaneyulu@cleartax.in