The income tax (I-T) department recently extended the deadline for filing returns for the year 2020-21 amid coronavirus pandemic. Along with easing pressure on individual taxpayers, these relaxations will also reduce the compliance burden for businesses struggling in the current environment.

What are the new deadlines?

Individuals can now file their tax returns for income earned during the financial year 2020-21 by September 30. The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has also extended the ITR filing deadline for companies to November 30.

What are the usual deadlines for filing income-tax returns?

In normal circumstances, individual taxpayers filing ITR-1 or 4 should have submitted their returns for the financial year 2020-21, which ended March 2021, by July 31, 2021.New deadline for filing tax audit report and transfer pricing certificate

The date for filing the tax audit report and transfer pricing certificate has been extended by a month till October 31 and November 30, respectively.

Deadline for issuing Form 16

In a circular, the CBDT extended by a month to July 15, 2021 the deadline for employers to issue Form 16 to employees.

Deadline for furnishing Statement of Financial Transaction (SFT) report

The deadline for financial institutions to furnish the Statement of Financial Transaction (SFT) report has been extended to June 30 from May 31, 2021.

What are revised returns and the new deadline for their filing?

An assessee who does not submit a return of income within the deadline is allowed to file a belated return but with a penalty. For filing a belated or revised return of income, the due date is now January 31, 2022.

New tax regime

From 2020-21, the government has given taxpayers the option to choose a new tax regime under section 115BAC of the I-T Act. Under this, annual income up to Rs 2.5 lakh is exempt from tax. Those individuals earning between Rs 2.5 lakh and Rs 5 lakh will pay a 5 percent tax. Income between Rs 5 and 7.5 lakh will be taxed at 10 percent and Rs 7.5 and 10 lakh at 15 percent.

Those earning between Rs 10 and 12.5 lakh will pay tax at the rate of 20 percent, while those between Rs 12.5 and Rs 15 lakh will pay at the rate of 25 percent. Income above R 15 lakh will be taxed at 30 percent

The dates have been extended keeping in view the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic and the restrictions imposed by state governments in various parts of the country.