Amid the Coronavirus pandemic, the government on Thursday decided to extend the deadline to file Income Tax returns (ITRs) for FY21 for individuals to September 30, 2021 from the previous deadline of July 31, 2021. The ITR-filing deadline for FY20 was extended to January 10, 2021. 

“The Central government, in continuation of its commitment to address the hardship being faced by various stakeholders on account of the severe COVID-19 pandemic, has, on consideration of representations received from various stakeholders, decided to extend timelines for compliances under the Income Tax Act,1961,” said Ministry of Finance in a statement.

The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has also extended the ITR-filing deadline for companies by a month till November 30. The deadline for taxpayers, like companies or firms, whose accounts are required to be audited, is October 31. The CBDT also said that the deadline for issuing Form 16 by employers to employees has been extended by a month till July 15.  

The due date for filing the tax audit report and transfer pricing certificate has been extended by a month till October 31 and November 30 respectively. For filing belated or revised return of income, the due date is now January 31, 2022. Besides, the deadline for financial institutions to furnish the Statement of Financial Transaction (SFT) report has been extended till June 30 from May 31, 2021.

“The Income Tax Department will also launch its new e-filing portal (http://incometax.gov.in) on June, 7, 2021. The existing portal (http://incometaxindiaefiling.gov.in) would not be available to taxpayers or other stakeholders for a brief period of six days from June 1, 2021 to June 6, 2021,” a statement from the Income Tax Department has said.