The Central Board of Direct taxes (CBDT) has extended the deadline for mandatory e-filing of income-tax returns to August 31 for the specified category of individual and HUF (Hindu undivided family) taxpayers whose net taxable income during 2011-12 was over Rs. 10 lakh.

According to an official statement here on Tuesday, the extension followed reports of life hit by power failure. The extension covers those who are liable to file such returns by July 31as per provisions of Section 139 of the Income-Tax Act, 1961.

The CBDT has also relaxed the compulsory e-filing of returns for the assessment year 2012-13 for representative assesses of non-residents and in the case of private discretionary trusts.

Under Rule 12 of I-T Rules 1962, an individual or HUF, whose total income in the previous year exceeds Rs. 10 lakh, is mandated to furnish income-tax returns electronically for the assessment year 2012-13 and subsequent assessment years.

However, it has come to the CBDTs notice that agents of non-residents are facing difficulties in electronically furnishing returns as there may be more than one agent of the non-resident in India for different transactions or a person in India may be an agent of more than one non-resident. Such situations are not covered by the existing e-filing software, which functions on the principle of one-assessee-one-PAN-one-return, the statement said.

Similarly, private discretionary trusts having a total income exceeding Rs. 10 lakh were facing problems in filing their returns electronically in cases where they were filing their returns in the status of an individual.

This was owing to the fact that while the status of a private discretionary trust had been held in law as that of an individual, the existing e-filing software did not accept the returns of a private discretionary trust in the status of an individual.

Accordingly, the CBDT has decided that it would not be mandatory for agents of non-residents, within the meaning of Section 160(1) (i) of the Income Tax Act, and for private discretionary trusts with total income exceeding Rs. 10 lakh, to electronically furnish returns of income for the assessment year 2012-13, it noted.