Extension of time limit June 24 Notification

Highlights of the Notification dated June 24, 2020 Extending Due Dates of Various Statutory Compliances

The Government has taken several measures to address various compliances issues being faced by taxpayers, owing to the outbreak of COVID -19 and the ensuing lockdown. Earlier in March 2020, the Government had extended various deadlines under Direct Tax and Indirect tax laws (which fell between 20^th March, 2020 to 29^th June, 2020) to 30^th June, 2020 by way of an Ordinance which was promulgated on March 31, 2020.

With the goal of building a self-reliant India, the Government had held a series of press conferences, announcing certain measures in May 2020 focused on rehabilitating small and medium businesses which were adversely affected. Amongst those announcements, the Government had also relaxed certain provisions relating to withholding tax, expeditious grant of refunds etc., besides extending statutory deadlines, such as limitation period for completion of assessments, obtaining tax audit reports etc. A note summarizing the key takeaways of the press release dated May 13, 2020 was circulated by us on May 14, 2020.

Whilst the lockdown has been relaxed in most parts of the country, administrations have found it difficult to arrest the growth of this pandemic, which has continued to show an increasing trend. As a result, Government offices, judicial authorities and even private businesses are operating only on a limited capacity, due to which taxpayers are facing hardships while meeting various compliance requirements.

In this backdrop, the Government has provided further relief to taxpayers extending various timelines under the specified laws (including Income tax law, Black Money Law, Vivad se Vishwas Act etc.) yet again, for which Notification 35 /2020 dated 24^th June, 2020 has been issued by virtue of the power granted under the Ordinance dated 31^st March, 2020 to provide further extension of the due dates.

In terms of this notification, the deadline for meeting prescribed compliances and due dates under specified laws falling between 20^th March, 2020 till 31^st December, 2020 shall stand extended to 31^st March, 2021, subject to the prescribed exceptions, where a shorter compliance period has been stipulated. The aforesaid extension also includes deadlines for passing orders, completion of proceedings, filing appeals, replies, applications, linking Aadhaar with PAN and various other prescribed documents. Thus, the Government has not only eased compliance requirements for taxpayers but also granted more time to tax authorities to fulfill their administrative duties.

Furthermore, certain announcements made in the Press release dated May 13, 2020 have been given legislative effect by way of this notification, though for some of the announcements such as: making payment under Vivad Se Vishwas Act without additional amount after 30^th June, 2020, reduction in TDS rates, extension of date of assessments which shall be barred by limitation on 31^st March, 2021, the legislative changes are yet to be introduced. It is expected that the government may bring such changes into the statutes in the coming parliamentary session.

The key highlights of the notification have been tabulated hereunder:

Compliance Event	Earlier Timeline as per Act	Extended Timeline vide Ordinance dated 31^st March, 2020	Recently extended Timeline vide Notification dated 24^th June, 2020
Income-tax Return (ITR)
Filing of belated or revised return of income for AY 2019-20	31^st March, 2020	30^th June, 2020	31^st July, 2020
Filing of return of income for AY 2020-21 as applicable to respective taxpayers	31^st July, 2020 or 31^st October, 2020 or 30^th November, 2020	No extension	30^th November, 2020 - for all classes of taxpayers (refer Note 2 below)
Audit Report
Furnishing of Tax Audit report for AY 2020-21	30^th September, 2020 or 31^st October, 2020	No extension	31^st October, 2020- for all classes of taxpayers
Furnishing of Transfer Pricing Report in Form 3CEB for AY 2020-21	31^st October, 2020	No extension	31^st October, 2020 (refer Note 6 (a) below)
Investments
Making of investments/ payment for claiming deductions under Chapter-VIA-B for AY 2020-21 – like section 80C (LIC, PPF, NSC, etc.), 80D (Mediclaim), 80G (Donations), etc.	31^st March, 2020	30^th June, 2020	31^st July, 2020

Compliance Event	Earlier Timeline as per Act	Extended Timeline vide Ordinance dated 31^st March, 2020	Recently extended Timeline vide Notification dated 24^th June, 2020
Capital Gains rollover exemption
Making of investment/ construction/purchase for claiming roll over benefit/ deduction in respect of capital gains under section 54 to 54GB	20^th March, 2020 to 29^th September 2020	30^th June 2020 (for due dates between 20^th March, 2020 to 29^th June 2020)	30^th September, 2020
TDS/TCS related
Furnishing of TDS/TCS statements for the month of February & March, 2020 or for the quarter ending March, 2020	31^st May, 2020	30^th June, 2020	-15^th July, 2020 (for Government) -31^st July, 2020 (for other than Government)
Furnishing of TDS/TCS statements the due dates for which fall during 20^th March, 2020 to 31^st December, 2020 (i.e. for the quarter ending 30^th June & 30^th Sep)	31^st July, 2020 Or 31^st October, 2020	No extension	No specific date in the notification- (Refer Note 6 (b) below)
Issuance of TDS certificates for FY 2019-20	15^th June, 2020	30^th June, 2020	15^th August, 2020
Issuance of Quarterly TDS certificates in Form 16A (i.e. to persons other than employees) for FY 2020-21	Fifteen days from the due date for furnishing TDS statement	No extension	No specific date in the notification- (Refer Note 6 (c) below)
Tax assessments- issue of notice and passing of order
Completion of assessment proceedings and issue of assessment order for AY 2017-18 (where reference to TPO was made)	31^st December, 2020	No extension	31^st March, 2021
Completion of assessment proceedings and issue of	30^th September, 2020	No extension	31^st March, 2021

Compliance Event	Earlier Timeline as per Act	Extended Timeline vide Ordinance dated 31^st March, 2020	Recently extended Timeline vide Notification dated 24^th June, 2020
assessment order for AY 2018-19 (where no reference to TPO is made)
Issue of notice under section 143(2) for selection of return under scrutiny assessment for AY 2019-20	30^th September, 2020	No extension	31^st March, 2021
Completion of assessment proceedings and issue of assessment order for AY 2019-20	31^st March, 2021	No extension	No extension- (Extension to 30^th September, 2021 announced in Press Release dated 13^th May, 2020 yet to be given legislative effect)
Direct Tax Vivad se Vishwas Act, 2020
Time limit for completion or compliance of action under Vivad se Vishwas Act, 2020	31^st March, 2020	30^th June 2020	31^st December, 2020 (Please see Note 5 below)

Notes

The Ordinance did not extend the due date of tax payments under the specified laws. However, it provided for reduced rate of interest of 9% per annum instead of the regular rate of 12%/18% per annum and waiver of penalty and prosecution for tax payments falling due between 20^th March, 2020 and 29^th June, 2020, if paid by 30^th June, 2020. The Notification dated 24^th June, 2020 has not extended the above relief beyond 30^th June, 2020.

For taxpayer having small self-assessment tax liability up to INR 1 lakh (INR 100 thousand), the date for payment of self-assessment tax has been extended to 30^th November, 2020. It has been clarified that there is no such extension for taxpayers with higher liability. In such case, whole of the self-assessment tax shall be payable by the due dates specified in the Income-tax Act and delayed payment would attract interest under section 234A of the Act.

The announcement regarding deferment of the date of implementation of revamped registration procedure for approval/ registration/notification of certain entities under Section 10(23C), 12AA, 35 and 80G from 1^st June, 2020 to 1^st October, 2020 was made in the Press Release dated 9^th May, 2020. The present Press Release dated 24^th June, 2020 clarifies that the old procedure i.e. pre-amended procedure shall continue to apply during the period from 1^st June, 2020 to 30^th September, 2020. Necessary legislative amendments in this regard shall be moved in due course of time. As per the new registration procedure, the entities already registered under Section 10(23C), 12AA, etc are required to apply for re-registration within 3 months from the date of commencement of the new procedure (which presently is 1^st June, 2020 as per Finance Act, 2020). In the absence of any specific amendment in the Notification dated 24^th June, 2020, the last date to apply for re-registration shall stand extended to 31^st March, 2021 unless any statutory amendment is made providing for otherwise.

The Press Release dated 24^th June, 2020 states that time limit for commencement of manufacturing for SEZ units, in respect of which letter of approval has been issued up to 31^st March, 2020, has been extended till 30^th September, 2020. However, there is no such provision in the Notification separately specifying such extended date. Unless a specific amendment is made in this regard, the time limit for commencement of manufacturing for SEZ units, being not specifically covered by the Notification, shall stand extended to 31^st March, 2021. This being contrary to the intent expressed in Press Release, the amendment in this respect may be introduced by the Government.

The Ordinance dated 31^st March, 2020 had amended the Vivad se Vishwas Act, 2020 to extend the last date for making payment without any additional amount of 10% for resolving past direct tax disputes from 31^st March, 2020 to 30^th June, 2020. The present notification dated 24^th June, 2020 has only extended the due date of making compliances under this Act, the legislative changes required to allow payment after 30^th June, 2020 without any additional payment are yet to be introduced.

The notification dated 24^th June, 2020 has provided that the due dates falling during the period 20^th March, 2020 to 31^st December, 2020 shall stand extended to 31^st March, 2021 unless specifically stated otherwise. Such compliances may include filing of appeal, issue of any notice or order by the tax authorities. However, in respect of the following compliances, though no specific dates have been provided, yet considering 31^st March, 2021 as the extended date may give incongruous results:

In case of furnishing of Transfer Pricing report in Form 3CEB, no specific date has been mentioned, however, the Income-tax Act as amended by the Finance Act, 2020 specifies ‘one month before the due date of furnishing return of income’ as the due date of furnishing Form 3CEB. At the same time, going by the expansive nature of the notification extending the due dates, Form 3CEB due date being not specifically specified may also be considered as extended to 31^st March, 2021, which would be contrary to the scheme of the Act. Further, looking Form 3CEB as ‘audit report’ from another angle, would also give the same result, as the Notification specifies 31^st October, 2020 as the due date for ‘report of audit’. As such, in our view, the due date of Form 3CEB should be reckoned as 31^st October, 2020 for AY 2020-21. The above view/ due date would equally apply to furnishing of Certificate for Minimum Alternate Tax (MAT) computation under section 115JB of the Act.

In the case of furnishing of TDS/TCS statements the due dates for which fall during 20^th March, 2020 to 31^st December, 2020 (i.e. for the quarter ending 30^th June & 30^th September), no due date has been specified in the notification. As such, the due dates shall stand extended to 31^st March, 2021 unless any further clarification or amendment is made in this regard.

Similarly, for issuance of Quarterly TDS certificates in Form 16A, the due dates for which fall during 20^th March, 2020 to 31^st December, 2020 (Fifteen days from the due date for furnishing TDS statement), which have not been specifically provided in the notification, should, keeping in view the scheme of the Income-tax Act, be considered as after 15 days from the due dates as extended in the notification, instead of considering as 31^st March, 2021.