The COVID-19 situation is adversely impacting India’s economic state. There has been a disruption in supply chains, business operations, and manufacturing for maximum of the sectors. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced temporary relief for compliance deadlines for businesses and corporates this week which focuses on giving a breather to businesses in this ongoing crisis. The government says that they are working on relief packages aimed at mitigating the impact of pandemic on the economy.
The government has classified customs as an essential service, and it is expected to be operational until June 30, 2020. Some relief was also provided for micro, medium, and small enterprises (MSMEs). A few key announcements by the Finance ministry are listed below to help corporates survive this pandemic.
Extension of compliance deadlines
The Finance ministry has given temporary relief for compliance deadlines until June 30, 2020 for the following compliances:
- Income tax return filing for FY 2018-2019
- Linking of Aadhaar Card with Permanent Account Number (PAN)
- All compliances falling under the Income Tax Act, Wealth Tax Act, Benami Transaction Act, Black Money Act, Securities Transaction Tax law, Equalization Levy Law, and the Direct Tax Bill, Vivaad se Vishwaas as well as Those falling under Sabka Vishwaas scheme which is also the indirect tax dispute redressal scheme .
- Due dates for issuing of notices for all laws linked to duty compliance have been extended
- All goods and services tax (GST) returns for March, April, May, and composition returns have been extended.
- Apart from that, for delayed deposit of tax deducted at source (TDS), the penalty which was earlier fixed at 18% has now been reduced to 9%.
The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has announced relief for those taxpayers whose application for lower or nil deduction of TDS and tax collected at source (TCS) is pending for disposal saying that cases where the application is pending and where withholding tax certificates were issued for FY 2019-20, the validity of the certificates will be extended to June 30, 2020.
Relief for MSMEs
- The finance ministry has announced that no interest, penalty, or late fee will be charged on the late GST return filing for companies showing less than Rs. 50 million turnover.
- Those companies showing over Rs 50 million turnover, the interest rate levied will be 9% instead of 18%.
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