CBDT Extends Due Date to Furnish Tax Audit Reports

The Central Board of Direct Taxes extended the due dates for furnishing tax audit reports and ITR for specific categories of taxpayers for F.Y. 2020-21 via a press release issued today (Circular No. 01/2022 dated January 11 2022).

The extension was made after various taxpayers had asked the tax department and the Finance Ministry to extend dates due to the rising coronavirus cases and issues in the new income tax portal.

The extension was made mainly for two categories of taxpayers:

(i) Audit cases –  All businesses with turnover exceeding Rs.1 crore or Rs.10 crore (where aggregate cash receipts and payments are not more than 5%) get covered under tax audits and have to submit audit reports to the department. 

(ii) Assessee covered under ‘Specified domestic and international transactions’– Every person who has entered into an international transaction or specified domestic transaction the previous year has to obtain an accountant’s report and submit it to the department. 

The due date to furnish an audit report under the Income Tax Act for the financial year 2020-21, for which the original due date was September 30 2021, has been further extended to February 15, 2022. The previous due date to furnish the audit report was January 15, 2021. 

Also, the due date to furnish the audit report of the assessee with specified domestic and international transactions (transfer pricing cases), where the original due date was October 31 2021, is extended to February 15, 2022. 

Also, the due date to furnish the accountant’s report by assessee entering into specified domestic or international transactions under Section 92E of the Income Tax Act for the F.Y. 2020-21 (original due date was October 31 2021) stands further extended to February 15, 2022. The previous due date for submission of this report was January 30, 2022. 

Similarly, the due date for filing ITR for cases required to undertake tax audits has been extended from February 15, 2022, to March 15, 2022. 

Also, the due date of filing an income tax return for transfer pricing cases has been extended from February 28, 2022, to March 15, 2022.

Various tax associations and taxpayers had appealed to the government to extend the due date of submitting tax audit reports and filing income tax returns for this category of individuals. Tax professionals and various Chartered Accountant associations trended the hashtags on Twitter, appealing to the government to extend the due dates due to multiple issues.

However, do keep in mind that for individuals (whose accounts are not required to be audited) filing income tax returns using ITR-1, ITR-2, and ITR-4, the due date expired on December 31, 2021. Those who have missed this deadline can file a belated return till March 31, 2022, along with a late- filing penalty and interest. 

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