The Income Tax Department on Saturday extended the deadline for individual assessees to file their returns for the financial year 2019-20 to December 31, in relief to taxpayers on account of COVID-19.
Taxpayers can now file their return of income until December 31 which was earned between April 1, 2019, and March 31, 2020, instead of November 30. For individuals required to get their accounts audited, a new deadline of January 31 is applicable, instead of December 31.
The last date for assessees required to furnish audit reports on international or specified domestic transactions has also been extended to January 31, from November 30.
The dates was extended in order to “provide more time to taxpayers for furnishing of income tax returns”, according to the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT), the top policy-making body of the Income Tax Department.
The Income Tax Department acknowledged the “challenges faced by taxpayers in meeting the statutory and regulatory compliances due to the outbreak of COVID-19”.
In May, the government had extended the date for filing income tax returns for financial year 2019-20 to November 30, from July 31. It had also moved the last date to furnish various audit reports – including tax audit report – to October 31.