Tax department extends deadlines for various filings

The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) on Tuesday extended the deadlines for all statutory filing requirements, in view of the difficulties reported by taxpayers.

According to a statement by CBDT, more time has been granted for filings related to foreign remittances, equalization levy or digital services tax, statement of income paid by investment funds to unit holders and investments made in India by sovereign wealth funds as well as pension funds.

Accordingly, for remittances made in the June quarter, authorized dealers can now file their statements (Form 15CC) by 31 August. Earlier, the deadline was extended from 15 July to 31 July. Banks are required to file this form.

The deadline for filing statements related to the equalization levy—tax on the payments made by an entity to an offshore digital platform targeting Indian consumers—also have to be completed by 31 August. The original due date of 30 June was, in the interim, extended to 31 July.

While pension funds and sovereign wealth funds were required to report investments in India for the June quarter by the end of July, the timeline has now been extended to the end of September.

The due date for filing the statement of income paid by investment funds to unit holders (Form 64D) for FY21 has been extended to 15 September from 15 July. The original due date was 15 June. Extensions have been issued for compliance requirements that were due on or before 31 July.

In view of the technical glitches in the new income tax portal, taxpayers have been facing a lot of problems to meet deadlines, said Shailesh Kumar, partner, Nangia and Co. LLP, a consultancy.

“The extension will provide much-needed relief to taxpayers for making the compliances and will save them from penal consequences,” he said.