Corporate compliance calendar for the month of Jan 21

1. Compliance requirement under Income Tax Act, 1961

Notes:

1. The Ministry of Finance has issued a Notification No 85/2020 dated 27 October, 2020 , under the Vivad se Vishwas Act, 2020, that in order to mitigate undue hardship and remove difficulty that may be caused by the requirement of payment within 15 days from date the date of receipt of certificate from designated authority, allows the declarant to make the payment without any additional amount till on or before 31st March, 2021. Further, the declaration can be filed by 31 December, 2020.

2. The Taxation and Other Laws (Relaxation and Amendment of Certain Provisions) Act, 2020 has extended due dates for compliance falling during the period from 20-03-2020 to 31-12-2020. Readers are requested to please check the relevant documents from below links:

Importatnt updates

1. I-T Dept allows revision of declarations filed under 'Vivad Se Vishwas' scheme

Entities filing declaration under the direct tax dispute resolution scheme 'Vivad Se Vishwas' can revise them till the time tax authorities issue certificate mentioning details of tax arrears and the amount payable, the Income Tax Department has said.

Issuing a set of FAQs on 'Vivad Se Vishwas' scheme, the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) also said the scheme cannot be availed in a case where proceedings are pending before Income Tax Settlement Commission (ITSC) or where writ has been filed against the order of ITSC. The CBDT also clarified that in a case where Mutual Agreement Procedure (MAP) resolution is pending or the assessee has not accepted MAP decision, the related appeal shall be eligible under 'Vivad se Vishwas'.

2. Income Tax Return: Problems in ITR excel utilities mar date extension relief

The initial version of the excel utilities of some Income Tax Return (ITR) Forms had some issues due to which the utilities of ITR-2, ITR-3 etc were not opening normally and were showing some error messages.

For example, at the time of opening the excel utility of ITR-2, it was showing the message – "Excel found unreadable content in 'ITR2_2020_PR2.1.xlsm'. Do you want to recover the contents of this workbook? If you trust the source of this workbook, click Yes.”

While the file was getting closed on clicking 'No', it was opening on clicking 'Yes', but after removing some parts. On reporting the matter to the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT), the Department acknowledged the problem and said that the assessees using 2007 and prior versions of MS Office would face the issue as the utility was compatible for the last three versions MS Office.

3. Income Tax Return filing: Revised instructions for filing ITR Forms 2, 3, 5, 6 & 7

During the last 3-4 months the government has made significant changes in the taxation structure, introduced a few new forms and a few new steps. Fundamentally, these changes are brought to make the taxation system automate, independent and to interlink other fiscal systems with which the other related financial information can be accumulated for better financial analysis.

To help taxpayers and make the ITR filing experience smooth, the Income Tax Department has issued revised instructions for filing ITR forms for A.Y. 2020-21.

4. "In view of the continued challenges faced by taxpayers in meeting statutory compliances due to outbreak of COVID-19, the government further extends the dates for various compliances,” the Income Tax Department said on Twitter.

• Due date for Filing Income Tax Return (ITR) for Individual for FY 2019-20 under section 139 (1) of Income Tax Act, 1961 has been extended till 10.01.2021.

• Deadline for filing Income Tax Returns for 2019-20 by companies has been extended by 15 days to 15 February, 2021.

• Due date for furnishing of Income Tax Returns for the assessment year 2020-21 for taxpayers (including their partners) who are required to get their accounts audited has been extended to 15 February, 2021.

• Last date for declaration under Vivad Se Vishwas Scheme has been extended to 31 January, 2021 from 31 December, 2020.

Official Link: https://twitter.com/IncomeTaxIndia/status/1344260412355665920

5. I-T Dept launches 'Jhatpat Processing' for filing income tax returns; check details

The Income Tax Department has introduced a 'Jhatpat Processing' initiative to ease the income tax return filing experience for taxpayers. The last date to file income tax returns (ITR) for the financial year 2019-20 (the assessment year 2020-21) is December 31, 2020.

The Income Tax (I-T) Department took to Twitter to announce that it has launched the 'Jhatpat Processing' feature. The I-T Department said that the feature has already been started for ITR-1 and 4 forms and taxpayers can file their I-T returns for AY 2020-21 by visiting the e-filing website -- incometaxindiaefiling.gov.in.

The 'Jhatpat processing' feature will only be applicable to taxpayers whose ITRs are verified and bank accounts are pre-validated. Besides, there are no arrears or income discrepancy, or tax deducted at source (TDS) or challan mismatch.

Important Notifications - For the month of December - 2020

2. Compliance Requirement under GST, 2017

Filing of GSTR-3B

GSTR 3B Due Dates for May 2020

A. Taxpayers having aggregate turnover > Rs. 5 Cr. in preceding FY

B. Taxpayers having aggregate turnover upto Rs. 5 crores in preceding FY (Group A)

C. Taxpayers having aggregate turnover upto Rs. 5 crores in preceding FY (Group B)

D. Filing Form GSTR-1

E. Compliances for Composition taxpayers

F. Non Resident Tax Payers, ISD, TDS & TCS Taxpayers

G. GST Annual Returns

H . GST Refund

Key UPDATE(s)

1. Supreme Court upholds levy of GST on lottery, gambling

The Supreme Court on Thursday upheld the levy of Goods and Service Tax (GST) on sale of lotteries and gambling across the country. A bench comprising justices Ashok Bhushan, R Subhash Reddy and MR Shah ruled that the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 and the notifications issued there under bringing lottery and gambling under the GST net are valid. The top court said that "while determining the taxable value of supply the prize money is not to be excluded for the purpose of levy of GST”

"The inclusion of actionable claim in definition "goods” as given in Section 2(52) of CGST Act, 2017 is not contrary to the legal meaning of goods and is neither illegal nor unconstitutional,” it held. According to judges, it is well settled that the courts have very limited role to play with regard to taxing policy of the legislature.

2. QRMP scheme launched for GST payers with turnover up to Rs 5 crore

The government has launched the Quarterly Return filing & Monthly Payment of Taxes (QRMP) scheme for small taxpayers under GST system. Taxpayers with aggregate annual turnover of up to Rs 5 crore in the preceding financial year and have filed their October GSTR-3B (sales) return by November 30, 2020, are eligible for this scheme.

The GST Council in its meeting held on October 5, had said that registered person having aggregate turnover up to Rs 5 crore may be allowed to furnish return on quarterly basis along with monthly payment of tax, with effect from January 1, 2021.

With the launch of the QRMP scheme on December 5, taxpayers up to Rs 5 crore turnover have the option to file their GSTR-1 and GSTR-3B returns quarterly beginning January-March period. Taxpayers can make GST payments through challan every month either by self-assessment of monthly liability or 35 per cent of net cash liability of previous filed GSTR-3B of the quarter. Quarterly GSTR-1 and GSTR-3B can also be filed through an SMS.

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