The last date for filing income tax return (ITR), which is July 31 of each year, may get extended as CBDT has extended the last date for employers to issue Form 16. Moreover, it has also extended the last date for filing of Form 24Q by the tax deductors for the financial year 2018-19.

“As per the Order Issued by the CBDT on the 4th June 2019, the due date of TDS return (Form 24Q) by the Employer is extended from 31.05.2019 to 30.06.2019. Consequently, the due date to issue of Form 16 has also been extended from 15.06.2019 to 10.07.2019,” says CA Abhishek Soni, Founder, tax2win.in.

Earlier the last date for filing of Form 24Q was May 31, which has now been extended till June 30. The extension was earlier provided only to the state of Odisha but now the last date for filing Form 24Q has been extended to all over the country.

“The due date of filing of income-tax return for AY 2019-20 is 31st July 2019. So, it is very likely that the CBDT would also extend the due date of filing of income-tax return considering the extension in due date of issuance of Form 16,” says Naveen Wadhwa, DGM, Taxmann.

The last date for the employers to provide Form 16 to the employees also stands extended from June 15 to July 10, 2019. According to CAclub, “CBDT has extended the due dates for filing of Salary TDS Return (Form 24Q) for the 4th quarter of FY 2018-19 from 31 May 2019 to 30 June 2019 and for issuance of Salary TDS Certificate (Form 16) from 15 June 2019 to 10 July 2019, due to hardships being faced by deductors in filing the said return in recently notified revised format.”

Earlier in May, there was an important change made in the Form 24Q which is a quarterly statement of deduction of tax in respect of salary for the quarters of the financial year and is to be filed by the employer. The new rule asks the employer to show to ensure generation of accurate TDS certificate in Part B of Form No. 16 and that the employers have to report correct data in Annexure II of Form 24Q. “The CBDT has issued a notification to amend the Form 24Q and Form 16 (TDS certificate in respect of salary income) with effect from May 12, 2019. As per the new format, every employer is required to report the detailed break-up of salary, exempt allowances and deductions claimed and allowed to an employee,” says Wadhwa.

If the last date of filing ITR stays at July 31, several employers may not even stick to the deadline of 10 July and therefore this is likely to impact several taxpayers who would hardly get any time to file their ITR. The generation of Form 26AS may also get delayed. “It is expected that CBDT may extend the due date for filling income tax return for salaried employees from 31st July 2019 to 15th August 2019,” says Gopal Bohra, Partner, N.A Shah Associates LLP.