Further Extension by CBDT for AY 2020-2021

CBDT has issued a notification for further extending few of the time limits of compliances under Taxation & Other Laws (Relaxation of Certain Provisions) Ordinance, 2020 as under:

1. The time for filing of original as well as revised income-tax returns for the FY 2018-19 (AY 2019-20) has been extended to 31st July, 2020.

2. The date for making various investment/ payment for claiming deduction under Chapter-VIA-B of the IT Act which includes section 80C (LIC, PPF, NSC etc.), 80D (Mediclaim), 80G (Donations) etc. has also been further extended to 31st July, 2020. Hence the investment/ payment can be made up to 31st July, 2020 for claiming the deduction under these sections for FY 2019-20.

3. In order to provide relief to small and middle class taxpayers, the date for payment of self-assessment tax in the case of a taxpayer whose self-assessment tax liability is up to Rs. 1 Lakh has also been extended to 30th November, 2020. However, it is clarified that there will be no extension of date for the payment of self-assessment tax for the taxpayers having self-assessment tax liability exceeding Rs. 1 lakh. In this case, the whole of the self-assessment tax shall be payable by the due dates specified in the Income Tax Act (IT Act) and delayed payment would attract interest under section 234A of the IT Act.

4. The date for making investment/ construction/ purchase for claiming roll over benefit/ deduction in respect of capital gains under sections 54 to 54GB of the IT Act has also been further extended to 30th September, 2020. Therefore, the investment/ construction/ purchase made up to 30th September, 2020 shall be eligible for claiming deduction from capital gains.

5. The furnishing of the TDS/ TCS statements and issuance of TDS/ TCS certificates are the prerequisite for enabling the taxpayers to prepare their return of income for FY 2019-20, the date for furnishing of TDS/ TCS statement and issuance of TDS/ TCS certificate pertaining to the FY 2019-20 has been extended only to 31st July, 2020 and 15th August, 2020 respectively.

6. Due date for income tax return for the FY 2019-20 (AY 2020-21) has been extended to 30th November, 2020. Hence, the returns of income which are required to be filed by the 31st July, 2020 and 31st October, 2020 can be filed to 30th November, 2020. Consequently, the date for furnishing tax audit report has also been extended to 31st October, 2020.

7. The date for passing of order or issuance of notice by the authorities and various compliances under various direct taxes & Benami Law which are required to be passed/ issued/ made by 31st December, 2020 has been extended to 31st March, 2021. Consequently, the date for linking of Aadhaar with PAN would also be extended to 31st March, 2021.

8. The date for commencement of operation for the SEZ units for claiming deduction under deduction 10AA of the IT Act has also been further extended to 30th September, 2020 for the units which received necessary approval by 31st March 2020.

9. The reduced rate of interest of 9% for delayed payments of taxes, levies, etc. specified in the Ordinance shall not be applicable for the payments made after 30th June, 2020.

PPF withdrawal rules: How to withdraw, take loan from your provident fund account

PPF withdrawal rules: How to withdraw, take loan from your provident fund account

ü  PPF account comes with several benefits, including pre-mature withdrawal and loan facilities

ü  Due to tax savings and a decent interest rate backed by the government, public provident fund is treated as a good investment

 

Providing a decent interest rate of 7.9%, tax savings on both principal and interest, and the safety of a government savings scheme, Public Provident Fund (PPF) is among the most popular small savings tool. You can invest a maximum of ₹1.5 lakh under Section 80C in your PPF account while a minimum investment of ₹500 is mandatory to keep the account alive.

 

Your PPF account matures at the end of the 15th year when you are allowed to withdraw the full amount or keep extending it further for a block of five years.

 

PPF withdrawal rules after 15 years

Ø  PPF scheme follows the financial year (April-March) as its accounting year. So if you opened a PPF account in March 2019, you are now already in the second year.

Ø  At the end of the 15th year you are free to close your PPF Account and withdraw all your money. You have to fill up Form C and submit it to the post office or bank where you have the account.

Ø  You can chose not to close the PPF account but extend it further by a block of 5 years. This extension can be done for any number of times till the account holder is alive. You need to collect and submit FORM H for extension of your PPF account.

 

PPF withdrawal rules before 15 years

Ø  The government allows you to partially withdraw some amount from your PPF account from the seventh financial year onwards. For the first six years of your PPF account, withdrawal is not allowed.

Ø  You can withdraw from your PPF account from the seventh financial year since the year of opening. However, only one withdrawal is allowed in one year.

Ø  The amount of money you can withdraw from the PF account has been capped. Amount of withdrawal is limited to 50% of the balance at the end of the fourth preceding year or 50% of the balance at the end of the immediate preceding year, whichever is lower.

Ø  Even your premature partial withdrawal is treated as tax free. The entire amount you withdraw enjoys tax free status.

Ø  PPF withdrawal or pre-mature closure is not permissible except under special circumstances.

 

PPF loan rules

Ø  Since you are not allowed to partially withdraw your provident fund savings before the seventh year, you are free to take a loan against it from the third year to the sixth year.

Ø  The loan amount has been capped to 25% of the balance at the end of two preceding years.

Ø  You cannot take a fresh loan till the time your previous loan is cleared.

Ø  You have to pay an interest of 2% more than the prevailing rate of interest of PPF. For example, if you take a loan against your PPF balance, you have to pay 9.9% interest as the PPF account fetches an interest of 7.9%.

Ø  Loans have to cleared with 36 months.

Ø  No loan is allowed from the 7th year onwards but you can make partial withdrawals.

Relaxation By GST Council 40th Meeting

Relaxation By GST Council 40th Meeting

GST Council Meeting Updates

1️⃣ For all those who have no tax liability but have not filed GST returns for tax period July 2017 - Jan 2020 (prior to #COVID19 period), there shall be no late fee at all

2️⃣ For people who have tax liability, maximum late fee for non-filing of GSTR-3B returns for period Jul 2017 - Jan 2020 has been capped to ₹ 500

This will apply to all returns submitted during Jul 1, 2020 - Sep 30, 2020

3️⃣ For small tax payers whose aggregate turnover is up to ₹ 5 crore, the rate of interest for late furnishing of GST returns for Feb, Mar and April 2020, beyond July 6, 2020: the rate of interest is being reduced from 18% to 9%

4️⃣ Small tax payers whose aggregate turnover is up to ₹ 5 crore will be provided a waiver of late fees and interest if they file the form GSTR-3B for the supplies affected in months of May, June and July 2020, by September 2020

5️⃣ Tax payers who could not get cancelled GST registrations restored in time are being given an opportunity to apply for revocation of cancellation of registration up to September 30, 2020

In all cases where registration has been cancelled till June 12, 2020

Source: Ministry of Finance - official Twitter

Atal Pension Yojana Exit Policy (NPS)

The Atal Pension Yojana is a new pension scheme started by the Government of India to help applicants pay a cash amount to the pension account to fund their retirement when they reach the age of 60 years. The main idea is to provide assured returns.

credit: by Google

The Atal Pension Yojana (APY) scheme was launched in 2015 with the main aim of helping individuals in the unorganised sector. All operations of the APY scheme are handled by the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA). Under the scheme, unorganised sector workers can save money towards their retirement on a voluntary basis. Enrolling for the scheme at an early age helps in saving more money for retirement. The minimum and maximum ages to opt for the scheme are 18 years and 40 years, respectively.

Steps to exit from the APY scheme

The steps to exit from the APY scheme are mentioned below:

·        You must visit the bank where the Atal Pension Yojana account is held.

·        The closure form must be filled and submitted.

·        Once the form is submitted, you must wait for all the procedures to be completed.

·        Once the closure is processed by the bank, the money available in the account along with the interest that has been generated will be transferred into the bank account that was provided by you. A notification will also be sent by the bank.

Withdrawal procedure from the APY scheme

The different methods to exit from the APY scheme are mentioned below:

·        In case the subscriber attains the age of 60 years:

Once the subscriber has attained the age of 60 years, he/she must submit a request at the bank where the APY account is held to withdraw the higher monthly pension or guaranteed minimum monthly pension. The subscriber will receive a higher monthly pension in case the returns are higher than the guaranteed returns. In case the subscriber passes away, the same amount of monthly pension will be paid to the spouse, who is the default nominee. Any other nominee will be eligible to receive the pension amount in case both the subscriber and the spouse pass away.

·        In case a subscriber passes away after attaining the age of 60 years:

In case the subscriber passes away after attaining the age of 60 years, the spouse will receive the pension amount. The nominee will receive the pension amount upon the death of both the subscriber and his/her spouse.

·        Exit from the APY scheme before attaining the age of 60 years:

Under the APY scheme, voluntary exit is allowed. In case the subscriber has opted for the APY scheme along with a co-contribution from the government and opts for a voluntary exit from the APY scheme at a future date, he/she shall receive the contributions that were made towards the scheme along with the net actual income that was earned. However, account maintenance charges will be deducted. The contribution made by the government along with the net actual income that is earned on the contribution will not be refunded back.

·        In case the subscriber passes away before attaining the age of 60 years:

In case the subscriber passes away before attaining the age of 60 years, the spouse will have the option to continue the account. The account will be in the name of the spouse and contributions have to be made till the original subscriber would have attained the age of 60 years. The pension amount that the spouse will receive will be the same as what the subscriber would have received.

·        In case the spouse does not opt to continue the scheme, the entire corpus that has been accumulated in the APY account will be returned to the spouse or nominee.

May be waive late fee of GSTR-3B

GST Council to take up late fee waiver for GSTR 3B returns in next meeting

 

 

May be waive late fee of GSTR-3B

 

GST Council to decide on late fee waiver for filing past returns

 

 

The government has already waived late fee for any delay in filing GSTR-3B from February to June, 2020 to reduce compliance burden for small businesses having turnover less than ₹5 crore amid the covid-19 crisis

 

GST Council

The Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council headed by finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman will examine requests from businesses to waive late fee for filing past returns in its next meeting on June 14.

 

Central Board of Indirect and Customs (CBIC), on Monday said that there have been several requests to waive off late fee for filing GSTR-3B or summary return form Aug 2017--since the soon after the rollout of the revamped indirect tax regime.

 

The government has already waived late fee for any delay in filing GSTR-3B from February to June, 2020 to reduce compliance burden for small businesses having turnover less than ₹5 crore amid the covid-19 crisis.

 

GSTR 3B is a monthly self-declaration regarding actual tax paid, to be filed by a registered assessee. Under the law, if not filed within the stipulated date, a penalty of Rs 50 per day is levied, if assessee has any tax liability due and Rs 20 per day in case of ‘nil’ liability. In case of tax due, interest at the rate of 18 per cent is levied.

 

"The current requests for waiver of late fee pertain to the old period (August 2017 to January 2020). It may be appreciated that the late fee is imposed to ensure that the taxpayers file return in time and pay taxes on the amount collected from buyers and due to the government. This is a step to ensure that a certain discipline is maintained regarding compliance. Honest and compliant taxpayers would be discriminated negatively in the absence of such a provision," CBIC said.

 

Since decisions pertaining to GST are taken by the Centre and the state, with the approval of the GST Council, the Centre will not 'unilaterally take a view on this issue.'

MAJOR INCOME TAX CHANGES A.Y.2020-21

INCOME TAX CHANGES A.Y.2020-21

1. Income Tax New disclosures asked in the new ITR forms 1to7 are: 1. House ownership: Individual taxpayers who are joint owners of house property cannot file ITR 1 or ITR4.

2. Passport: One needs to disclose the Passport number if held by the taxpayer. This is to be furnished both in ITR 1-Sahaj and ITR 4-Sugam. Hopefully, it will be made mandatory in other ITR Forms as and when they are notified.

3. Cash deposit: For those filing ITR 4-Sugam, it has been made compulsory to declare the amount deposited as cash in a bank account, if such amount exceeds Rs 1 crore during the FY.

4. Foreign travel: If you have spent more than Rs 2 lakh on travelling abroad during the FY, you need to disclose the actual amount spent.

5. Electricity consumption: If your electricity bills have been more than Rs 1 lakh in aggregate during the FY, you need to disclose the actual amount.

6. Investment details:  Details of investment qualifying for deduction under chapter VIA with bifurcation of details of investment made during the period from April 1, 2020 to June 30, 2020.

7. For every assessment year, the last date for filing tax returns is July 31, However, this year ITR filing date has been extended till November 30, 2020 due to pandemic Covid-19. 

8. Income Tax Exemptions and Deductions that you can claim under the New Tax Regime for FY 2020-21 (AY 2021-22): Withdrawal by an employee from the Employees' Provident Fund (EPF) is not taxable after 5 years of continuous service.

9. Withdrawal from National Pension Scheme (NPS) on maturity or premature closure up to 40% of the amount received on such withdrawal remains tax free for all. In case of partial withdrawal from NPS, up to 25% of the contributions made by the individual will be tax free. Employer’s contribution to NPS up to 10% of their basic salary and dearness allowance also remains tax free.

10. Under Section 10 (10D) of the Income Tax Act, the sum assured and any bonus paid on maturity or surrender of the life insurance plan is tax free. Maturity proceeds continue to be exempt under Section 10(10D) even in the new regime. The maturity amount including interest received on the Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana will not attract any tax.

11. Conveyance Allowance granted to meet expenditure incurred on conveyance in performance of duties of an office and any allowance granted to an employee to meet the cost of travel on tour or on transfer (including relocation) are tax free. Interest received from post office savings account balance up to ₹3,500 annually per individual will remain free from tax.

12. Any scholarship granted to meet education costs is tax exempt under Section 10 (16) of the Income Tax Act. Gratuity received from the employer up to ₹20 lakh after rendering 5 years of continuous service. Leave encashment received at the time of resignation or retirement up to ₹3 lakh.

13. Form 26AS will now be a complete profile of the taxpayer w.e.f. 01.06.2020, CBDT vide Notification dated May 28, 2020 amended Form 26AS in Sec 285BB w.e.f. 01.06.2020. Key takeaways are:

14. New form 26AS will also provide information in respect of “Specified financial transactions” which include transactions of purchase/ sale of goods, property, services, works contract, investment, expenditure, taking or accepting any loan or deposits of such value as may be prescribed but not less than of Rs 50,000.     

15. Information about income tax demand, refund, proceedings pending, and proceedings completed which may include assessment, reassessment under section 148,153A 153C, revision, appeal will also be shared in this form 26AS.      

16. Information on this form 26AS will not be a one-time affair at year end. This will be a live 26AS, as this will be updated regularly within 3 months from the end of the month in which such information is received.       

17. Form 26AS will now be a complete profile of the taxpayer for that particular year as against earlier form 26AS which just provided the information about taxes paid by way of TDS/TCS or self-assessing. This form will also have mobile no, email I’d and Aadhar no. of the taxpayer.      

18. Further an enabling provision has been notified empowering the CBDT to authorise DG Systems or any other officer to upload in this form, information received from any other officer, authority under any law. Thus any adverse action initiated or taken or found or order passed under any other law such as custom , GST , Benami Law etc. including information about Turnover , import , export etc. will also be put in this form 26AS so that not only the concerned taxpayer but  also all the Income Tax authorities will  know and have access to such information.      

19. This form 26AS will also provide information received by Tax Deptt from any other country under the treaty /exchange of information about income or assets of the taxpayer located outside India.     

20. The implication of this new form 26AS will be that banks , financial institutions or any other authority or customer , buyer etc. while carrying out due diligence of the person/ corporate concerned will now ask for form 26AS  so as to be sure that there are not any major issues about such person/corporates.   

21. This will now make difficult for any taxpayer to hide information from any bank / financial institution/ authority about any proceedings against under any law or tax demand, tax disputes etc.

26AS Annual Information Statement

MINISTRY OF FINANCE

(Department of Revenue)

                    (CENTRAL BOARD OF DIRECT TAXES)

                                        NOTIFICATION

                                                                                                                    New Delhi, the 28th May, 2020

                                                        INCOME-TAX

                                        26AS Annual Information Statement

G.S.R. 329(E).—In exercise of the powers conferred by section 285BB read with section 295 of

the Income-tax Act, 1961 (43 of 1961), the Central Board of Direct Taxes hereby makes the following rules

further to amend the Income-tax Rules, 1962, namely:—

        1. Short title and commencement.-

           (1) These rules may be called the Income-tax (11th Amendment) Rules, 2020.

           (2) They shall come into force with effect from the 1st day of June, 2020.

        2. In the Income-tax Rules, 1962 –

                (I) rule 31AB shall be omitted;

                (II) after rule 114H, the following rule shall be inserted, namely:-

“Annual Information Statement

114-I. (1) The Principal Director General of Income-tax (Systems) or the Director General of Income-tax (Systems) or any person authorised by him shall, under section 285BB of the Income-tax Act,1961, upload in the registered account of the assessee an annual information statement in Form No. 26AS containing the information specified in column (2) of the table below, which is in his possession within three months from the end of the month in which the information is received by him:─

                                                                    TABLE

Sl.                                                 No Nature of information

(1)                                                         (2)

(i)                                                 Information relating to tax deducted or collected at source

(ii)                                                Information relating to specified financial transaction

(iii)                                               Information relating to payment of taxes

(iv)                                               Information relating to demand and refund

(v)                                                Information relating to pending proceedings

(vi)                                               Information relating to completed proceedings

(2) The Board may also authorise the Principal Director General of Income-tax (Systems) or the Director General of Income-tax (Systems) or any person authorised by him to upload the information received from any officer, authority or body performing any function under any law or the information received under an agreement referred to in section 90 or section 90A of the Income-tax Act,1961 or the information received from any other person to the extent as it may deem fit in the interest of the revenue in the annual information statement referred to in sub-rule (1).

(3) The Principal Director General of Income-tax (Systems) or the Director General of Income-tax

(Systems) shall specify the procedures, formats and standards for the purposes of uploading of annual

information statement referred to in sub-rule (1).”

        

            (III) in Appendix II, Form 26AS shall be substituted by the following Form, namely:-

Form 26AS                                Annual Information Statement                Financial Year:

                                                      [See rule 114-I ]                                           XXXX-XX

                                                                                                                        Assessment Year:

                                                                                                                           XXXX-XX

                                                        

                                                                    Part A

Permanent Account Number:                                                         Aadhaar Number:

Name :

Date of Birth/Incorporation:

Mobile No. :

Email Address :

Address:

                                                                    Part B

Sl. No                         Nature of information

1.                                Information relating to tax deducted or collected at source

2.                                Information relating to specified financial transaction

3.                                Information relating to payment of taxes

4.                                Information relating to demand and refund

5.                                Information relating to pending proceedings

6.                                Information relating to completed proceedings

7.                                Any other information in relation to sub-rule (2) of rule 114-I

[Notification No. 30/2020/F. No. 370142/20/2020-TPL]

ANKUR GOYAL, Under Secy.

Note : The principal rules were published in the Gazetted of India, Extraordinary, Part II Section 3,

Sub-section (ii) vide number S.O. 969 (E) dated the 26th March, 1962 and last amended by the

Income-tax (10th Amendment) Rules, 2020 vide notification No. G.S.R. 315(E), dated the

27-5-2020.

key changes in ITR forms for the AY 2020-2021

Income Tax Returns Forms 1 to 7 for A/Y 2020-21 Notified.

6 key changes in ITR forms for the AY 2020-2021:

1. House ownership

Individual taxpayers who are joint owners of house property cannot file ITR 1 or ITR4.

2. Passport

One needs to disclose the Passport number if held by the taxpayer. This is to be furnished both in ITR 1-Sahaj and ITR 4-Sugam. Hopefully, it will be made mandatory in other ITR Forms as and when they are notified.

3. Cash deposit

For those filing ITR 4-Sugam, it has been made compulsory to declare the amount deposited as cash in a bank account, if such amount exceeds Rs 1 crore during the FY.

4. Foreign travel

If you have spent more than Rs 2 lakh on travelling abroad during the FY, you need to disclose the actual amount spent.

5. Electricity consumption

If your electricity bills have been more than Rs 1 lakh in aggregate during the FY, you need to disclose the actual amount.

6. Investment details

Details of investment qualifying for deduction under chapter VIA with bifurcation of details of investment made during the period from April 1, 2020 to June 30, 2020.