Gujarat, Maharashtra and Kolkata Tax Professionals Association represented FM for Tax filing due date Extension
Copy of Letter to FM from Tax Professionals Association Gujarat
To,
Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman
Hon’ble Union Minister of Finance,
Ministry of Finance,
Government of India,
North Block,
New Delhi — 110001
Sub: Extension of due dates of Income tax returns & submission of Tax audit reports for FY 2020-21 (AY 2021-22)
Respected Madam,
We would like to place on record our sincere appreciation to the laudable efforts taken by the government towards fighting the COVID-19 pandemic with record vaccinations and timely support to the citizens. We applaud the vision of having a new income tax e-filing website which aims to provide convenience and a “modern, seamless experience” to taxpayers. We are confident that slew of taxpayer friendly measures planned by the Government will address several intricate problems relating to taxation, synchronously fulfil its vision of having more transparency in the system with minimal interaction between tax payers and tax authorities. This regime has provided us with new hope and optimism for a future bereft of the virus.
COVID -19 & RISING CASES OF OMICORN CASES:
Globally, Omicron has reached nearly 60 countries, and many nations have started putting restrictions and lockdowns are back in place. India reported 7,992 cases on 10th December 2021 and the cases are on gradual rise on a daily basis. Triggered by the rising Omicron cases in Maharashtra, the state government has banned large gatherings and imposed other restrictions within Mumbai. The state has the highest cases with the new SARS-CoV-2 ‘variant of concern’ in the country till date. On the other hand, 32 cases of the new variant of concern Omicron have been detected so far in the country, which is a cause for concern. This is especially so because people have been wearing masks less and not following the proper COVID protocols.
With Omicron, the experts predict that the third wave of coronavirus could hit the peak by January end with cases likely to be reaching up to 1-1.5 lakh a day in the country. An Indian Institute of Technology Hyderabad (IITH) team, which launched a Covid tracker website, has predicted that Omicron variant cases may touch 1.5 lakh cases when at peak and will totally subside by March 22. Most of the companies have advised their staffs to continue working remotely wherever possible.
Due to COVID-19 pandemic and new OMICORN variant, following issues are being faced by the trade and industry:
- Mortality rate in the second wave of COVID-19 pandemic for age group of 25-40 was higher than the initial phases. COVID-19 has had a huge impact psychologically and it will take more time for people to leave behind the fear and anxiety caused due to this pandemic. Hence, people are more worried for the prospective third wave and its deadly consequences.
- Though the Government of India (`GOI’) has not imposed any lockdown, still there are various places in the country that are either still under partial lockdowns or are under containment zones etc. making it extremely hard for the businesses to run their regular operations. The strength of workforce at the offices of taxpayers and their consultants is less and nowhere close to its full capacity. The offices are working with 50-60% capacity and they do not expect their workforce to resume work normally in near future, making it strenuous for them to do necessary accounting related work.
- All entities do not have facility of “work from home” and even employees are not having the required data to work from home. Entities are spread across the country and they may not necessarily be in big towns or having all required “cloud storage” or “work from home facilities” for employees. In the absence of data, every financial and accounting processes are also hampered.
- Filing of returns is not possible without consultation of professionals and auditors of the companies. Due to COVID-19, even the professionals and auditors are facing the issue of insufficient staff / staff working from home without data / staff quarantined in containment zones etc. making it extremely difficult to perform the required audit procedures and complete the audit in time. Restriction on travelling and number of people working also impacts consultants’ ability to file returns on time.
- Severe Cash Crunch due to COVID-19: COVID-19 has had a direct negative impact on demand and supply of goods and services and businesses are also facing serious cash flow issues as the economic activities have started in the second half of current year only. This in turn is having an impact on all payments including to those for employees, interest, loan repayments and taxes. There are less chances of receiving payments from the outstanding receivables as this pandemic has created cash flow mismatches for all concerned. Moreover, the businesses are facing severe supply chain disruptions and expect the situation to worsen further till the time the things get normalized. Not only the small and medium businesses, but even the large businesses are severely affected and if not supported timely, we may see large chunk of MSMEs closing down resulting in mass unemployment and related problems.
ISSUES WITH THE NEW INCOME TAX PORTAL:
We would like to convey our gratitude and congratulate you and your ministry for taking up the pro-active and forward-looking step of launching of new Income tax e-filing portal with the objective of realizing many functional improvements and to bring in many better and improved functionalities. While we support the various initiatives taken by the government in trying to establish a robust mechanism to ease the compliances of taxpayers, we would like to bring to your notice that even after expiry of more than five months, the portal is still not functioning upto its full capacity, going under frequent maintenance issues and there are many technical glitches causing great and unavoidable hardships to the taxpayers and their representatives.
There has also been constant updation of the utilities and instructions for filing the Income Tax returns (ITR) and Tax audit reports. For instance, the utility for ITR-5 was updated on 9th December, 2021, for ITR-6 on 3rd December, 2021 and for Income Tax forms (forms 3CA/CB-3CD) the latest version was released on 9th December, 2021. The software companies also take time to update the same and hence the filing gets delayed.
Further, we are also facing issues in uploading specific forms and reports like Form 10-IC (domestic company choosing to pay tax at concessional rate of 22% under Section 115BAA of the Act), Form 29B (for MAT) and Form 10B (Audit report under section 12A(b) of the Act) and transfer pricing report u/s 92E of the Act.
Basis the above-mentioned issues, we are requesting for extension of the following due dates under Income Tax Act, 1961:
– The due date of furnishing of Return of Income for the Assessment Year 2021-22, which was 31St July, 2021 under sub-section (1) of section 139 of the Act, as extended to 31st December, 2021 should be further extended to 28th February, 2022.
– The due date of furnishing of Report of Audit under any provision of the Act for the Previous Year 2020-21, which is 30th September, 2021 as extended to 15th January, 2022 should be further extended to 15th March, 2022.
– The due date of furnishing of Return of Income for the Assessment Year 2021-22, which is 31′ October, 2021 under sub-section (1) of section 139 of the Act, as extended to 15th February, 2022 should be further extended to 31st March, 2022.
– The due date of furnishing Report from an Accountant by persons entering into international transaction or specified domestic transaction under section 92E of the Act for the Previous Year 2020-21, which is 31st October, 2021, as extended to 31′ January, 2022 should be further extended to 31st March 2022.
In an ordinary scenario, delaying compliances, is considered to be an ominous sign for a business’ health. But these are exceptional circumstances and even post the second wave of COVID-19 resumption of activities has been at a very slow pace. Hence the earlier dates of December end / January mid which seemed reasonable at one time is now looking extremely difficult.
We all are facing this unprecedented situation and we require your co-operation and patient hearing to our concerns. We would be very grateful if your good self would take an early action in this regard and have a positive consideration of our requests. This will be very useful for the taxation fraternity and also for the trade and industry. In conclusion, we request that a suitable orders / clarification may be issued to this effect at the earliest.
Copy of Letter to FM from Tax Professionals Association Maharashtra
To,
The Union Finance Minister,
Union of India, North Block,
New Delhi – 110 001
Respected Sir,
Sub: Appeal for [a] extension of due date for furnishing of Income-tax returns, Tax audit reports etc. & [b] Issues faced by us after launching of new website
REF.: Practical difficulties faced by tax payers & tax professionals in filing: [a] Income tax returns, tax audit forms [b] System glitches in new website launch
[01] About Our Association:
Our Association represents the Tax Consultants, Advocates, Chartered Accountants, Company Secretaries & Cost Accountants practicing in direct & indirect taxes from whole of the Maharashtra state. Presently, we have around 1700 plus active members from the state.
Our Association was earlier known as The Western Maharashtra Tax Practitioners’ Association. In the recent Special General Meeting of our members held on 6th June 2021, we have decided to expand our wings & made our area of operation as whole Maharashtra..
[02] Role of our Association:
Our Association always represents the concerns and problems faced by these members before the respective tax authorities. This initiative of our Association has proved beneficial for the tax administering authorities, our members and ultimately the tax payers at large.
[03] About this representation:
This representation contains various issues faced by Tax Professionals in filing of returns, tax audit forms etc. & issues of the new website
C) Practical difficulties faced by tax payers & tax professionals in filing Income tax returns, tax audit forms:
REGISTERED
- UNDER BOMBAY PUBLIC TRUST ACT Regi. No. F-1861 n PAN : AAATT1337P
- 80-G Get. No. PN/CIT-IV/TECH/80G-89/2007-08/2054 dt.2-11-2007 w.e.f.1-4-2007 to 31-3-2010, CIT-IV Pune
- UNDER SOCIETIES ACT Regi. N0./MAH/642/POONA 81 n UNDER SECTION 12A OF THE [TACT No. CH/PN/3292/80-81
1) Extension of due date for filing ITR’s: As you are aware that the Income-tax website is changed & there are hundreds of issues in the new website. However, some of the issues have been resolved, but many issues as enumerated below are still persisting. It took huge time to get these issues resolved. Still the following issues persists:
A) Filing of tax Audit forms: The utilities for filing tax audit reports have been made available very recently & hence the work of filing tax audit reports is held The data required in the changed forms is to be extracted from the accounts for which the staff I tax professionals offices & taxpayers offices is taking time.
B) Overlapping due dates: The due date for filing GSTR-9 & GSTR-9C for f y 2020-21 is 31st December, 2021. Whereas, the due date for filing tax audit reports under Income-tax Act, 1961 is 15th January 2022. The due dates are overlapping & hence professionals find it difficult to prepare both the audit
C) CA examination: The basic data, checking of accounts, finalisation work for tax audit reports is mainly prepared in the offices of Chartered Accountants by the articled clerks under CA course. The examination of CA final, IPCC will be concluded on 20th December 2021. The articled assistants appearing for the examination have taken leave for the same. Therefore, the work in the offices of Chartered Accountants has been hampered to a considerable extent.
D) ITR Form-5 & Form-6: Utilities for ITR form-5 applicable for partnership firms, AOP & Co–operative Societies, ITR form-6 for Companies are still having many issues while filing theses ITR’s. Tax professionals facing these issues & hence are unable to file these returns.
E) Recent changes in Tax audit forms: CBDT has recently made various changes in tax audit form seeking additional information therein. Tax professionals have to get acquainted to it. The information sought is required to be collected from the client & / or his accountant. Both of them require time & study of the relevant information.
F) ITR due dates for audit & non audit assesses: The due date for filing ITR for audit assessee is 31st December 2021. For non audit assessee due date for filing Tax audit report is 15th January 2022, the gap of 15 days is insufficient. Whereas, the gap in these two due dates is 2 months in normal circumstances. Therefore, there must be a gap of two months in these two due dates. Therefore, tax professionals neither concentrate on work of audit assessee nor concentrate on work of non audit assessee.
G) Due date of Scrutiny Assessments: The due date of scrutiny assessments for A Y 2018 – 19 & other scrutiny assessments under other sections is 31st December 2021. Tax professionals find it almost impossible whether to file ITR’s, Tax audit reports, GSTR-9, GSTR-9C audit or to comply with the scrutiny assessments in the given time.
H) Introduction of AIS / TIS: In case of Individual & HUF assessee Annual Information Statement (AIS), Tax Information Statement (TIS) have been introduced in Oct / Nov 2021. Coordinating with the data on these statements is almost an impossible task as the statements have been introduced after many assessees have finalised their accounts. These statements are faulty in it, as it contains half the information. In many cases the banks have not supplied the full / part of the information. If there are bulk transactions of shares or other transactions then it does not get downloaded or takes too much time to get downloaded. In case of discrepancies in data available it becomes difficult to how to correlate the data with actual figures. It will lead to issues in scrutiny assessments in future. Therefore, it is urged that the basis of AIS, TIS data be started from next assessment year. Those who have already filed ITR before the introduction of A.I.S. are now advised to file a revised return. If CBDT has introduced A.I.S. late on the portal why assessee should file a revised ITR?
I) Filing Form 10-1D for Company assessee: For Company assessee opting for option to file return u/s 115BAB of The Income – Tax Act, 1961 the form is not getting uploaded on the website. If the complaint is raised, after some days portal gives a reply that “issue is resolved, file Form 10-1D’. Factually, still the issue Thus company assessee will have to pay income tax at a higher rate without any fault at their end.
J) Due date for filing revised returns: The due date for filing revised returns is 31st December for all assessee. However, due to the reasons of new website the due date of filing original returns has been extended. Therefore, the due date for filing revised returns be extended at 3 months from filing the extended due date of filing the original return.
K) Departmental messages containing XXXX: The tax payment challans, messages on mail, mobile contains xxxx in name, PAN of the assessee. It is time consuming and unwanted. What the CBDT is achieving by sending xxxx in every message? The same must be removed & all details as to full name, full PAN etc be reflected in each communication from the department.
L) Form 10-1E could not be filed by representative assessee: In case of deceased / lunatic assessee the return for the unfilled period be fled by the legal heir of the deceased / lunatic. However, if the legal heir chooses to opt for taxation u/s 115-BAC of the deceased / lunatic he cannot do so as the applicable form 10-1 E could not be uploaded by the legal heir.
M) Old Penalty Notices still live on new portal: Penalty notices of the period before the new site was launched in which answers were filed upto 31.05.2021 (period of old website) were not processed & the cases are still seen as not Appropriate actions in such cases are required to be given. It may so happen that the assessee under sincere belief of responding the notice may be penalised due to this for no fault.
N) Filing of returns with DSC: If any assessee chooses to file his ITR by signing it by digital signature then even individual returns without audit cannot be filed with DSC. The issue must be resolved on priority.
O) Suggestion for Point no I & L above: Atleast for some period the signed copy of the relevant form be directed / allowed to be accepted in the respective ward offices till the website get smoothened.
It is therefore urged that extension for filing of various returns & compliances be granted as follows:
| Sr. No. | Particulars | Date |
| i) | ITR filing for non audit assessee | 31st January 2022 |
| ii) | Filing of tax audit reports | 28th February 2022 |
| iii) | Filing of ITR for audit cases & working partners of compulsory audit assessee | 31st March 2022 |
| iv) | Completion of scrutiny assessments | 31st March 2022 |
B) System Glitches:
1 Wrong tax audit limit shown by new website: The new website shows tax audit limit of Rs. 60 Lakhs for f y 2015-16 corresponding to A Y 2016-17. In fact, for A Y 2016-17 the tax audit limit was Rs. 1 crore. We are attaching herewith the relevant extract of section 44–AB of the Income – Tax Act, 1961 applicable for A Y 2016-17.
Audit of accounts of certain persons carrying on business or profession Section 44-AB: Every person
(a) Carrying on business shall, if his total sales, turnover or gross receipts, as the case may be, in business exceed or exceeds (one crore rupees) in any previous year or
(b) Carrying on profession shall, if his gross receipts in profession exceed (twenty – five) lakh rupees) in any (previous year; or
(c) Carrying on the business shall, if the profits and gains from the business are deemed to be the profits and gains of such person under (Sec 44AE) (or Sec 44BB or Sec 44BBB), as the case may be, and he has claimed his income to be lower than the profits or gains so deemed to be the profits and gains of his business, as the case may be, in any (previous year; or)
(d) Carrying on the business shall, if the profits and gains from the business are deemed to be the profits and gains of such person under (Sec 44AD) and he has claimed such income to be lower than the profit gains so deemed to be the profits and gains of his business and his income exceeds the maximum amount which is not chargeable to income – tax in any previous year.
It may be questioned that the relevant years ITR filing due date has already been over & no ITR now could be filed. However, in case of notice u/s 153C r w s 153–A & in case of notice u/s 148 to file returns it may be required for further period of 4 more years. It is therefore urged that the same may be rectified immediately.
2 Vivad se Vishwas Form-4 filing glitches: The limit for making payment under Vivad se Vishwas scheme was 30th September 2021. On making full payment Form-4 under the scheme is required to be filed. In Form-4 all payments made after assessment such as part payment on stay application etc. were required to be considered towards discharging the liability payable as per DTVSV scheme. However, the present website though allows details of tax payment made after issue of Form-3 under the scheme however, it does not allow to enter any payment made before issue of Form-3. This glitch in the system is required to be overcome on priority.
We assure you our best possible co-operation in re-building our most beloved motherland.
Copy of Letter to FM from Tax Professionals Association Kolkata
Subject: Memorandum for Extension of Due Dates till 28th Feb. 2022 for filing of ITRs and Resolution of the pending glitches in the IT Portal.
We have been constantly putting forward the grievances of our members in respect of the New Income Tax Portal since its launch and even though the Portal is functional and some of the issues have been sorted out but is still the Portal is having multiple glitches which has resulted difficulties for many persons and taxpayers are unable to file their Income Tax Returns. It is also pertinent to note that not only the ITR of Companies, Firms, Business Income, TAR etc. are facing issues but also returns of Individuals, HUF and Executor to the Estate are not being able to be filed due to some reason or the other which is also consuming considerable time and effort of the tax professionals.
We would like to mention the following problems being faced by the tax professionals and taxpayers:
2. ITR -6: In case of ITR-6 for companies, Return is not available online and if the companies opted for concessional Tax u/s 115BAA or 115BA or 115BAB, the portal is not allowing filing of ITR and is asking for filing of Form 10-IC again but not allowing its
3. The non-working of DSC functionality in many cases is causing problem.
4. In case of ITR-3, (for the assessees declaring Income from Salary, Business, Capital gain and Other Sources) if the assessees opted for concessional tax under section 115BAC, the portal is not allowing the filing of ITR and is asking for filing of Form 10-IE again bit not permitting to file the same.
5. The ill functioning of schema for TAR which is frequently getting updated and resulting in wrong data getting reflected in already filed TARS.
6. The portal is not allowing the filing of Form for new Registration of Trust and Societies and thus denying filing of Form ITR-7.
7. Online ITR FORMS 5 and 6 are still not available online.
These are some of the problems, which are being faced besides the issue of slow functioning of the portal. It has resulted in piling of work with our members and other stakeholders requiring time to smoothly file the ITRs.
Therefore we humbly pray an extension up to 28th February, 2022 is requested to be granted. Needless to mention the pandemic is not yet over which has also played a crucial role in non-functioning of the offices of professionals and taxpayers. The number of staff available is much lesser due to Corona restrictions including non- functioning of Local trains.
On behalf of our Association, we request your kind intervention for the extension of the due dates of filing of returns at least till 28th February, 2022 and also your help to early resolution of pending problems faced by the Taxpayers in the New Income Tax Portal.
We look forward to an early consideration of of our above prayers.
Thanking you,
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