Coronavirus (COVID-19): Key Announcements on Income Tax, GST, Finance and others

Hello friends, Today I’m going to explain a topic "Coronavirus (COVID-19): Key Announcements on Income Tax, GST, Finance, and others". 

You can read my previous blogs "GST in India- An Introduction" & "GST Framework In India"

The Union Finance Minister Smt Nirmala Sitharaman made a number of announcements on 24th March 2020 via video conferencing related to statutory and regulatory compliance matters and some reliefs for businesses to cope up with the difficult times of COVID-19.

Below is the summary of the Blog:

Summary

• Income Tax
• Goods & Services Tax (GST)
• Customs
• Financial Services
• Corporate Sector OR Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA)
• Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC)
• Fisheries 

Income Tax

The last date for

• Belated/Revised filing of ITRs for the FY 18-19 
• Permanent Account Number (PAN) and Aadhar linking 
• “Vivad se Vishwas” scheme no additional 10% payment

Extended from
31st March 2020 to 30th June 2020

Issue of notice, intimation, notification, approval order, sanction order, filing of an appeal, furnishing of return, statements, applications, reports, any other documents and time limit for completion of proceedings by the authority and any compliance by the taxpayer including investment in saving instruments or investments for rollover benefit of capital gains under Income Tax Act, Wealth Tax Act, Prohibition of Benami Property Transaction Act, Black Money Act, Securities Transaction Tax (STT) law, Commodities Transaction Tax (CTT) Law, Equalization Levy law, Vivad Se Vishwas law where the time limit is expiring between March 20,2020 to June 29,2020 shall be

Extended to 30th June 2020 

Interest at a reduced rate of 9% p.a. shall be charged alternately of 12% or 18% p.a. towards the delayed payment/deposit of the following income tax levies, made between March 20,2020 and June 30,2020.

Note that there is no extension in the deadlines.

• Advance Tax
• Tax Deduction at Source (TDS)
• Tax Collection at Source (TCS)
• Self-assessment tax
• Equalization levy
• Security Transaction Tax (STT)
• Commodity Transaction Tax (CTT)

Goods & Services Tax (GST)

The last date for the

• GST Returns for March, April & June 2020 on a staggered basis 
• Opt for composition scheme 
• Sabka Vishwas scheme from 31st March 2020 with no Interest charges
• Issuance of notice, intimation, notification, approval order, sanction order, filing of an appeal, furnishing of return, statements, applications, reports, any other records where the time limit expires between March 20,2020 and  June 20,2020
• Penalty fall to 5% interest on late filing of GST returns beyond 15 days for firms having turnover up to Rs. 5 crore

Extended to 30th June 2020 

Customs 

The taxpayers and/or the tax authorities have got an extensive time limit of up to June 30,2020 where the time limit for the following compliance matter lapses between March 20,2020 and June 29,2020:

• Issue of notice, notification, approval order, sanction order, Filing of an appeal, furnishing of applications, reports, or any other documents.
• Customs clearance will operate 24*7 to help Exporters and Importers up to  June 30,2020.

Financial Services 

• You can now withdraw money from any Bank ATM without charges for 3 months.
• Minimum balance charges waived off for bank accounts.
• There shall not be any minimum balance requirement fees (in Bank accounts). 
• In the case of Digital Trade transactions, Bank charges are being reduced.

Corporate Sector

• The requirement of holding board meetings has been relaxed for 60 days for two quarters. 
• Newly incorporated companies will be given an additional 6 months for declaration of commencement of business. 
• For 2019-20, if independent directors have not been able to hold a single meeting, it will not be seen as a violation.
• Applicability to Create Deposit Reserve of 20% of deposits by April can now be complied with by 30 June 2020.
• Requirements of Auditor's Report order 2020 which was assumed to come into force for Financial Year 2020 will be effective from Financial Year 2021.

Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC)

Insolvency is a financial position of being – one that is reached when you are unable to pay off your debts or obligations on time.
Bankruptcy is a lawful process that serves the purpose of resolving the issue of insolvency.

• Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman's government's move to consider raising the threshold limit to file any action under IBC from Rs. 1 lakh to Rs. 1 crore has come as a huge relief booster shot for SMEs (Small and Medium Enterprises), SSMEs (Sustainable Small and Medium Enterprises) and small businesses.
• Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) Section 7 (Initiation of corporate insolvency resolution process by the financial creditor), Section 9 (Application for initiation of corporate insolvency resolution process by the operational creditor), Section 10 (Initiation of corporate insolvency resolution process by corporate applicant) may be considered for 6 months if Economic scenario becomes worse. This will prevent companies from being forced into Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) for default if the scenario worsens.

Fisheries

• All the Sanitary Imports Permits (SIP) for the import of SPF Shrimp Broodstock and other Agriculture inputs which expires between 1st April 2020 and 15th April 2020 has been extended by 3 months
• Delay in arrival of import consignments by up to 1 month will not be considered as ‘delayed receipts’. 
• The time limit for the verification of documents and grant of NOC for quarantine has been relaxed from 7 days to 3 days.

Thanks for reading friends, I will bring more such interesting topics related to taxation. 

If you have any queries, suggestions, and please comment below the blog.

You can follow me on the right side subscribe to me button by just entering your email id. 

Please LIKE my Facebook Page Easy Taxation by Hitesh Luhar

Take care and stay home.😊😊