The income tax department has relaxed the due date for quarterly furnishing of 15G and 15H declarations by financial institutions (FIs) received from tax payers.

The income tax department has relaxed the due date for quarterly furnishing of 15G and 15H declarations by financial institutions (FIs) received from tax payers.

Forms 15G and 15H are filed by those whose incomes are below the taxable threshold in order to seek exemption from TDS on interest income.

While form 15H is submitted by senior citizens, 15G can be filed by an individual whose taxable income is less than the exemption threshold.

The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) had received representations from FIs for extension of the deadline for e-filing of these forms on the tax department portal.

Accordingly, the forms received by FIs between October 2015-March 2016 can now be e-filed with the tax portal by October 31 as against the earlier June 2016.

As for declarations received during April-June 2016, the due date for uploading has been extended to October 31, 2016, from the earlier requirement of July 15.

For 15G/15H declarations that came in during July-September 2016, the extended cut off now stands at December 31, 2016, as against earlier date of October 15.

Explaining the CBDT notification, Nangia & Co Partner Suraj Nangia said FIs had been facing issues on quarterly furnishing of form 15G/H since clarity on due date and manner of filing came only on June 9 and the deadline for furnishing the declaration received during the 6 months ended March 2016 was June 30.

“Addressing the concerns of the financial institutions, CBDT has given time… to put in place systems to capture and furnish the form 15G/H declarations online, and has extended the timeline,” Nangia said.

However, there has been no change in the due date for furnishing of 15G/15H declarations received during the third and fourth quarters of the financial year.

For declarations received till December 31, the cut-off for uploading of the form is January 2017. Those received by March 31, 2017, the due date will be April 30, 2017.

In September 2015, CBDT had done away with the requirement of submitting physical copy of form 15G and 15H by the deductor or financial institutions to I-T authorities.