EXTENSION AND RELIEF MEASURES ANNOUNCED BY FINANCE MINISTER ON 24-MARCH-2020

EXTENSION AND RELIEF MEASURES ANNOUNCED BY FINANCE MINISTER ON 24-MARCH-2020

WHILE THE NATION IS UNDER LOCK DOWN TO FIGHT SPREAD OF CORONA VIRUS

The Hon’ble Finance Minister Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman announced much awaited compliance relief packages in view of the coronavirus pandemic. She also said that the government is working on an economic package to deal with the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the economy and will make an announcement soon. There were lots of compliance reliefs in her announcements. The same has been dealt below-

Direct Taxes

Act	SN	Particulars	Existing	Revised	Conditions
Income Tax	1	Belated Returns and Revised Returns for F.Y. 2018-19 (A.Y. 2019-20)	31st March 2020	30th  June 2020	-
	2	Interest Rate for late payment for above [F.Y. 2018-19 (A.Y. 2019-20)]	12% p.a.	9% p.a.	Only applicable from 20th March 2020 onwards
	3	Late deposit of TDS	12% p.a.	9% p.a.	Only up to 30th  June 2020
	4	For delayed payments of advanced tax, self-assessment tax, regular tax, TDS, TCS, equalization levy, STT, CTT	12 % / 18% p.a. (1% /1.5% p.m.)	9% p.a. (0.75% p.m.)	Payment is made between 20th  March 2020 and 30th  June 2020
			Late Fee/ Penalty as Applicable	No Late Fee/ No Penalty
	5	Due Date for linking PAN with Aadhar	31st March 2020	30th  June 2020	-
	6	Vivad se Vishwas scheme	31st March 2020	30th  June 2020 (no additional 10% amount)
	7	Due dates for issue of notice, intimation, notification, approval order, sanction order, filing of appeal, furnishing of return, statements, applications, reports, any other documents and time limit for completion of proceedings by the authority and any compliance by the taxpayer including- investment in saving instruments or investments for roll over benefit of capital gains under Income Tax Act, Wealth Tax Act, Prohibition of Benami Property Transaction Act, Black Money Act, STT law, CTT Law, Equalization Levy law, Vivad Se Vishwas law	where the time limit is expiring between 20th  March 2020 to 29th  June 2020	30th  June 2020

Extension of due date of filing belated/ revised returns for FY 2018-19

The government has extended the due date for filing tax returns for FY 2018-19 (AY 2019-

20)          to 30th June, 2020. As per the existing tax provisions, the last date of filing the belated/ revised tax returns for the said period is 31st March, 2020.

However,  for  delayed  payments  made  till  30th   June,  interest  would  be  charged  at  a reduced rate from 12% to 9% pa. This means that in case any tax is still payable for FY 2018-19, interest will be charged at 9% instead of 12% for the period starting from 20th March until the date of payment of tax or 30th June, 2020 whichever is earlier.

This amendment would certainly give huge sigh of relief to the taxpayers and will go a long way in helping businesses to comply in due course in these challenging times. Had there been no extension of deadline for filing the tax returns, the taxpayers would have lost the opportunity to file unless the tax authorities specifically catch hold of them. The authorities may also allege non filing as willful failure and may lead to penal consequences under the tax provisions.

Vivaad se Vishwaas Scheme [VSVS]

This is a direct tax scheme announced in the Budget 2020, for settling the tax dispute between  the  taxpayers  and  tax  department.  The  scheme  is  extended  to  30th  June  and those availing the scheme will not be required to pay 10 per cent interest on principal as mandated under existing rules. The extension of the deadline means that taxpayers can now settle their tax dispute without paying any penalty and interest.

This is a welcome move in view of the fact that the law came into effect only on 17th March after the Cabinet approved the changes to the initial scheme and the online forms were issued only on 18th March. The taxpayers would have had only 12 days till the deadline i.e. 31st  March, 2020. There would have been procedural issues in completing  the process within 31st March even if a taxpayer does his part of compliance on day 1 at every stage as per the scheme.

Extension in time limit of various compliance

The  Hon’ble  Finance  Minister  has  extended  compliance  deadline  to  30th  June  2020 wherever the time limit was expiring between 20th March to 29th June, 2020.

The above would be applicable for various compliances like filing of appeals, investing in savings instruments or investments for rollover benefit of capital gains tax benefit under various laws administered by the revenue department. Moreover, the time limit for issuance of notices, intimations and completion of proceedings by the tax authorities has also been extended.

Reduced charge of interest

The Hon’ble Finance Minister has announced reduction in interest cost i.e. 9% instead of prevailing 12%/18% p.a. in case of delay in payments of  advanced tax, self-assessment tax, regular tax, TDS, TCS, equalization levy, STT, CTT made between 20th March 2020 and 30 June 2020.

It means that the date of last instalment of advance tax payment i.e. 15th  March is not extended but the interest for delayed deposit of advance tax due on 15th  March will now be computed at 9 per cent instead of 12 per cent for the period starting March 20 until June 30, 2020.

Similarly, delayed deposit of TDS may be paid up to June 30, 2020 with interest at 9 per cent instead of 12 per cent/ 18 per cent for the period from March 20, 2020 to date of payment or June 30, 2020, whichever is earlier.

Linking of Aadhaar- PAN

The last date of mandatory linking of Aadhaar with PAN got extended from 31st  March to 30th  June, 2020.

Indirect Taxes:

Act	SN	Particulars	Existing	Revised	Conditions
GST	1	Date for opting for composition scheme and last date for making payment for quarter ending 31st March 2020 for composition dealers		30th  June 2020	-
	2	Due Date for GSTR-3B for supplies made in the months of February, March and April: If a company’s turnover is less than ₹5 crore then on late payment of taxes	11th/ 22nd,24th  of the following month	30th  June 2020	-
			Interest, Penalty and Late Fees as applicable	no interest, no late fees and no penalty
	3	Due Date for GSTR-1/ GSTR-3B for supplies made in the months of February, March and April: If a company’s turnover is more than ₹5 crore then on late payment of taxes	10th/20th  of the following month	30th  June 2020	Compliance is done on or before 30th  June 2020 No Interest if tax is paid by è   04/04/20 (for Feb’20) è   05/05/20 (for Mar’20) è   04/06/20 (for Apr’20)
			Interest, Penalty and Late Fees as applicable	Interest @9%p.a. after 15 days of due date but no penalty or late fees
	4	Date for filing GST Annual Returns of FY 18-19	31st March 2020	30th  June 2020	-
	5	Payment date under Sabka Vishwas Scheme	31st March 2020	30th  June 2020 (no additional 10% amount)	-
	7	Due date for issue of notice, notification, approval order, sanction order, filing of appeal, furnishing of return, statements, applications, reports, any other documents, time limit for any compliance under the GST laws	where the time limit is expiring between 20th  March 2020 to 29th  June 2020	30th  June 2020	-
Customs	1	24X7 Custom Clearance		till end of 30th June, 2020	-
	2	Due date for issue of notice, notification, approval order, sanction order, filing of appeal, furnishing applications, reports, any other documents etc., time limit for any compliance under the Customs Act and other allied Laws	where the time limit is expiring between 20th  March 2020 to 29th  June 2020	30th  June 2020	-

Company Law

Act	SN	Particulars	Existing	Revised	Conditions
MCA	1	Moratorium: Late filing during a period from 01st April 2020 to 30th September 2020, in respect of any document, return, statement etc., required to be filed in the MCA-21 Registry, irrespective of its due date,	Additional Fees applicable	No additional fees Reduces the Compliance & Financial burden of companies/ LLPs at large.	-
				Also enables long-standing non-compliant companies/LLPs to make a ‘fresh start’
	2	Holding board meetings every quarter	4 board meetings every year such that there is not more than 120 days between each meeting	Gap between board meetings extended by 60 days each quarter	Only   for   First   2 Quarters     of     FY 2020-2021
	3	CARO 2020	Applicable from FY 2019-20	Applicable from FY 2020-21	CARO    2016    will still  be  applicable for FY 2019-20
	4	A single board meeting is held for independent directors in the FY 2019-20	Violation under Company Law	No Violation	-
	5	Deadlines for maintaining Deposit Reserve of 20% and DebentureRedemption Investment of 15%	30th  April 2020	30th  June 2020	-
	7	Director to qualify as a resident of India for FY 2019- 20	182 days	No condition	Only  for  FY  2019- 20
	8	For newly incorporated companies’ deadline for Declaration of Commencement	6 months	1 year	-

Financial Services: Reliefs for three months until 30th  June 2020.

1.       Debit cardholders to withdraw cash for free from any other banks’ ATM for 3 months

2.      Waiver of minimum balance fee

3.      Reduced bank charges for digital trade transactions for all trade finance consumers