Breaking : Income Tax Returns Date For 2018-19 FY Extended Till June 30, 2020; GST Filings Dates Extended

The Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday announced that the date for filing income tax returns for the financial year 2018-19 has been extended till June 30,2020 from March 31 in the wake of COVID 19 outbreak.

The interest for delayed returns is reduced from 12% to 9%.

For delayed deposit of TDS, interest has been reduced to 9% from 18%.

Aadhaar-Bank linking date has been extended till June 30,2020.

Last date for filing March-April-May GST returns has been extended to June 30, 2020.

The amnesty scheme of "Sab ka vishwas" for indirect tax regime has been extended to June 30, 2020 from March 31, 2020. No interest will be levied under this scheme if payment is done till the extended date.

For companies which have less than 5 crore turn over, no interest, no late fee, no penalty will be charged with respect to GST returns. For bigger companies, there will be no late fee or penalty, but a reduced interest rate of 9% will be charged.

Date for opting for composition scheme has also been extended till June 30, 2020.

Customs clearance will operate 24/7 as an essential service even during lockdown period.

Companies Act

In respect of the MCA 21 Registry, there is a moratorium being issued from April 1, 2020 till September 30, 2020. There will not be an additional fees for late filings. The mandatory requirement for holding board meetings is relaxed for a period of 60 days for the next two quarters.

Applicability of Companies (Auditors Report) Order 2020 will be from the Financial Year 2020-2021 instead of 2019-2020.

For the year 2019-2020, if the independent directors of the company has not been able to hold a single meeting, the same shall not be seen as a violation.

For newly incorporated companies, there is a requirement of filing declaration for commencement of business within 6 months of incorporation. This has been extended for 6 more months.

If there is any director in a company, who is not meeting the requirement of minimum residency in India (182 days), it will not be treated as a violation.

There is a requirement of depositing 15% of debentures maturing in a particular year in specified instruments by April 30. That deadline has been extended up to June 30, 2020.

Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code

The existing threshold of Rupees one lakh for triggering insolvency is raised to Rupees one crore. 

The Ministry will consider suspending Sections 7, 9, 10 of IBC for six months if the lockdown situation is continuing beyond April 30.

Banking