Government Extends ITR Filing Due Date for AY 2020-21 to 10 January 2021

The government has extended the due date to file the income tax return (ITR) for the assessment year 2020-2021 to 10 January 2021 from 31 December 2020. Similarly, the due dates for a few other compliances are also extended. 

In the notification, the government has mentioned why this extension is the taxpayers’ continued challenges to meet statutory and regulatory compliances due to COVID-19. It is also noted that many taxpayers had requested the government to extend the due date for filing income tax returns for the financial year 2019-2020 through social media channel, such as Twitter. 

Here is a list of all the due date extensions announced by the government:

1. The due date for furnishing ITR for AY 2020-21 for taxpayers, including their partners, who are supposed to undergo a tax audit and for companies is extended to 15 February 2021.
2. The ITR due date for AY 2020-21 for taxpayers who must furnish a report concerning international/specified domestic transactions is extended to 15 February 2021.
3. The due date for furnishing various audit reports, such as tax audit reports and reports regarding international/specified domestic transactions is extended to 15 January 2021.
4. The due date to file ITR for AY 2020-21 for other taxpayers is extended to 10 January 2021.
5. The last date to make a declaration under the ‘Vivad Se Vishwas’ scheme is extended from 31 December 2020 to 31 January 2021.
6. The date for passing orders under the ‘Vivad Se Vishwas’ scheme is extended from 30 January 2021 to 31 January 2021.
7. The date for passing order or issuing notice by the authorities under the Direct Taxes & Benami Act is extended from 30 March 2021 to 31 March 2021.
8. The due date for the payment of self-assessment tax for taxpayers with a tax liability of up to Rs.1 lakh is extended to 15 February 2021 for taxpayers mentioned in (1) and (2) and to 10 January 2021 for taxpayers mentioned in (4).
9. The due date for furnishing annual return under Section 44 of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 for the financial year 2019-2020 is extended from 31 December 2020 to 28 February 2021.

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The income tax department has shared that more than 4.73 crore income tax returns have been filed for the assessment year 2020-2021 until 30 December 2020. It is said taxpayers assumed that the ITR filing due date would not be extended again. Whereas, 4.51 crore ITRs were filed by the same time last year.

We all know that the government is in financial deficit due to the three-month nationwide lockdown and disturbed economic activities. The government is still recovering from the drastic change caused by the pandemic from all aspects. 

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