The Ministry of Finance today said in a statement that the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) is revising the Income Tax Return (ITR) forms for FY 2019-20 to enable taxpayers avail benefits of timeline extension due to COVID-19 pandemic. The revised forms shall be notified by the end of this month.
The new forms allow assessees to avail the benefits of various timeline extension granted by the government following the COVID-19 outbreak. As per the statement, the new income tax returns forms for the financial year 2019-20 will be notified by the month-end and return filing utility would be available by May 31.
The government has provided various timeline extension up to 30th June 2020 for the benefit of taxpayers amid the pandemic. The changed forms would allow taxpayers to take the benefit of their transactions carried out during the period from 1st April 2020 to 30th June 2020 in the return forms for FY 2019-20.
The return filing facility as per new forms will be made available for May 31, 2020. “CBDT explained that the necessary modifications in the return forms are being made to allow taxpayers to avail the benefits of their investments/transactions made for the Apr-to-Jun 2020 period. Once the revised forms are notified, it will further necessitate the consequential changes in the software and return filing utility. Hence, the return filing utility after incorporating necessary changes shall be made available by 31st May, 2020 to avail benefits for FY 2019-20,” the statement said.
Extended timelines
Under the Income-tax Act,1961 vide Taxation and Other Laws (Relaxation of certain provisions) Ordinance, 2020, the time for making investment/ payments for claiming deduction under Chapter-VIA-B of IT Act which includes Section 80C (LIC, PPF, NSC etc.), 80D (Mediclaim), 80G (Donations), etc. for FY 2019-20 has also been extended to 30th June 2020.
The dates for making investment/construction/purchase for claiming rollover benefit in respect of capital gains under sections 54 to section 54GB has also been extended to 30th June 2020. “Therefore return forms are being revised to facilitate reporting of the transactions of the relief period,” the ministry said.
ITR forms are generally notified in the first week of April. For Assessment Year 2020-21 also, the e-filing utility for filing of return was made available as on 1st April, 2020, and the Income-tax Return (ITR) Forms ITR-1 (Sahaj) and ITR-4 (Sugam) for the FY 2019-20 (Assessment Year 2020-21) were already notified vide notification dated 3rd January, 2020.
“However, to ensure that the taxpayer is enabled to avail all benefits of the timeline extension due to COVID -19 pandemic, the ReturnFormsrevision is being carried out,” the ministry said.
