In order to give relief to businesses and individuals amid the situation caused by the deadly coronavirus in the country, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday made a number of announcements related to statutory and regulatory compliance matters. Among the key announcements are extension of the deadlines for filing of income-tax returns and GST returns. Here are the highlights:
Income-Tax
Last date for I-T returns for FY19 extended to 30th June 2020.
For delayed payments made till 30th June, interest rate reduced from 12% to 9%.
Reduced interest rate of 9% vs 18% on delayed deposit of TDS.
No extension, but on delayed deposit of TDS, reduced interest of 9% will be charged till June 30, 2020.
Various other dates for notice filing, etc. have all been extended to June 30.GST
Last date for filing March, April, May GST returns and composition returns extended till 30th June 2020.
Different staggering dates will be applicable for GST filing for March, April and May.
For firms with turnover of over Rs 5 crore, no late fee or penalty but interest will be charged at a reduced rate of 9% for late GST filing.
Penalty reduced to 5% interest on late filing of GST returns beyond 15 days (for firms up to Rs 5 crore turnover).Customs
Customs clearance will operate 24X7 up to June 30, 2020 to help exporters and importers.
MCA
Relaxing board meetings by 60 days for next two quarters.
Applicability of auditor's report order 2020 which was supposed to come into force for FY20 will now only be effective from FY21.
For FY20, if independent directors have not been able to hold even one meeting, it will not be seen as a violation.
Additional 6 months given to file declaration for commencement of business for newly incorporated companies.
Requirement to create deposit reserve of 20% of deposits by April can now be complied with by June 30, 2020.IBC
Raising the threshold for default under IBC to Rs 1 crore.
IBC Sections 7, Section 9 and Section 10 may be considered for 6 months if economic situation becomes worse. This will prevent companies being forced into IBC for default if situation worsens.Fisheries
All sanitary import permits for input of shrimp root stocks which were to be expired between April 1 to 15 extended by 3 more months.
Delay of up to 1 month in arrival of consignment for fisheries will be overlooked.
Verification of documents and grant of NOC for quarantine will be relaxed from 7 to 3 days for fisheries.Department of Finance and Services
Debit Card holders can withdraw cash from ATMs free of cost for 3 months.
There will be no minimum balance requirement fee imposed by banks.
Bank charges are being reduced for digital trade, transactions.Others
Aadhar-PAN linking date to be extended to June 30, 2020.
Vivaad Se Vishwas scheme also extended to June 30, 2020.
No additional 10% charge on Vivaad Se Vishwas scheme till June 30, 2020.
First Published: Mar 24, 2020 3:29 PM IST
