Deadline for income tax return filing extended: Here are the crucial dates

The deadline for filing income tax returns (ITRs) for 2018-19 financial year has been extended from July 31 to September 30. The government has given a third deadline extension to file original and revised tax returns for 2018-19 fiscal. In March, the due date was extended from March 31 to June 30. Later in June, it was again extended by a month till July 31.

"In view of the constraints due to the Covid pandemic & to further ease compliances for taxpayers, CBDT extends the due date for filing of Income Tax Returns for FY 2018-19 (AY 2019-20) from 31st July, 2020 to 30th September, 2020," the Income Tax Department has stated.

The following are some crucial income tax-related deadlines:

- The deadline for filing revised income tax returns for the FY 2018-19 (AY 2019-20) also gets extended to September 30.

- August 15, 2020, is the last date for employers to issue Form 16 to employees. total salary received by the employee, the tax deducted by the employer and deduction availed by the employee are the details available in Form 16. For filing of ITRs, Form 16 is necessary. Using salary slips and Form 26AS,  employees can file their tax return or ITRs early.

- The date for filing the income tax return for FY 2019-20 (AY 2020-21) has also been extended to November 30, 2020, by the government. For linking biometric Aadhaar with PAN the deadline was extended till March 31 next year.

- The deadline for making investment, construction, purchase for claiming deduction in respect of capital gains under Sections 54 to 54GB of the Income Tax Act has also been extended to September 30, 2020. Therefore, the investment, construction and purchase made up to September 30, 2020, shall be eligible for claiming deduction from capital gains. Section 54 relates to tax exemptions available from capital gains if the capital gains are invested in the purchase or construction of a residential property.

- The Vivad se Vishwas scheme, announced in Union Budget 2020 for providing dispute resolution in respect of pending income tax litigation, has also been extended till December 31, 2020.  A taxpayer is required to pay only the amount of the disputed taxes and will get a complete waiver of interest and penalty under this scheme.