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The Gujarat High Court vide a judgment in All India Gujarat Federation of Tax Consultants V. Union of India, had directed the Ministry of Finance to look into the issue of extension of due dates for filing the Audit and take an appropriate decision following the law.
During the global pandemic due to the Covid-19, the due dates for filing of income tax returns for A.Y. 2020-21 were extended to 30th November 2020. The dates were extended again vide notification S.O. 3906 (E) dated 29th October 2020 to 31st January 2021 for cases in which the tax audit report was required to file 31st December 2020 for all the other cases. Further, the dates were again extended to 15th February 2021 and 10th January 2021 respectively.
The due date for filing the audit report under Section 44AB is one month before the due date of filing the income tax return. The due dates for payment of self-assessment tax, for taxpayers whose amount due does not exceed one lakh rupees, also coincide with the due dates for filing of income tax returns.
The Board also noted that the Government of India has been very empathetic to the needs of taxpayers. The relaxation provided by the governments around the world shows how much the Government of India has extended the due dates. The nations which are comparatively worse hit by the Covid pandemic, like the USA, UK, etc., have provided a lesser extension of due dates compared to the Indian government.
The notification shows that the Government has been proactive in analyzing the situation and providing relief to the citizens. But it should also be seen that many functions of the Income Tax Department start only after the filing of returns by the taxpayers. The tax collections assume increased significance in these difficult times and the government requires revenue to carry out relief work for the poor and other responsibilities.
Therefore, the board after referring to the above points and relying on the Hon’ble Supreme Court’s judgment in Govt. of A.P. v. N. Subbaranyudu, (2008) 14 SCC 702 stated that all the representations for further extension of due date were rejected.
The board made three points clear:
- The due dates for filing of return/tax audit have been extended on 3 occasions.
- Internationally, the extension provided by India is more generous than in other countries.
- The return filing statistics of the current year indicate that returns filed in this financial year already far exceeds the returns filed which were due on the last date of filing of returns.
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