The Parliament has passed The Taxation and Other Laws (Relaxation and Amendment of Certain Provisions) Bill, 2020. The due date to file an income tax return of AY 2020-21 is 31 December 2020 for taxpayers other than tax audit and TP cases, while the last date to file ITR for AY 2019-20 is 30 November 2020 (belated and revised ITR). The due date for tax audit and filing of transfer pricing audit report is 31 December 2020. The return filing for tax audit and TP audit cases is due by 31 January 2021.
The Bill replaces the Taxation and Other Laws (Relaxation of Certain Provisions) Ordinance, 2020 which provided relief to taxpayers through the extension of various due dates. The Ordinance dated 31 March 2020 announced several COVID-19 relief measures including the extension of due dates.
The significant due dates for the AY 2020-21 are:
| Investments or payment for tax-saving | 31 July 2020 (you can claim deductions for investments or payments made until 31 July 2020) |
| Payment of self-assessment tax | 31 July 2020 in case self-assessment tax liability is above Rs 1 lakh
31 December in case self-assessment tax liability is less than or equal to Rs 1 lakh |
| ITR filing due date | 31 December 2020 |
| Capital gains exemption | 30 September 2020 |
| Tax audit | 31 December 2020 |
The last date to file ITR in a tax audit case is 31 January 2021. The date to link PAN and Aadhaar is 31 March 2021.
Also Read: Post Offices and Banks Can Now Check the Status of Your ITR Filing
The government introduced the faceless assessment scheme in 2019 on a pilot basis. The scheme later was broadened to cover scrutiny assessment and best judgment assessment. Under the faceless assessment scheme, there will be no personal interaction between the taxpayer and the income tax department. A central cell called National e-Assessment Centre will issue all income tax notices.
A taxpayer’s case gets selected for e-assessment only in the case of a failure to furnish an income tax return, either voluntarily or in response to a notice. The selected cases would be assigned to a specific ‘assessment unit’ through an automated allocation system. However, there will be no human interface between the taxpayer and the department.
The Bill passed by the Parliament extends the faceless assessment scheme to eight other processes to enable:
- Faceless collection and recovery of tax
- Faceless rectification
- Faceless revision of orders
- Faceless issue of notice or intimation
- Faceless registration or approval
- Faceless assessment for income escaping assessment
- Faceless enquiry or valuation
- Faceless collection of information
The faceless scheme will be applicable for appeals starting 25 September 2020.
The faceless scheme will remove personal bias and personal interface with the department and bring in transparency in the manner of selection and carrying out of tax assessments.
For any clarifications/feedback on the topic, please contact the writer at sweta.dugar@cleartax.in
I am a Chartered Accountant by profession. I specialise in personal taxes and corporate income tax matters. I am an avid reader and track developments in financial markets, economy and other market developments.
