The government on Thursday extended the deadline for filing income tax returns by individuals till December 31 amid the coronavirus pandemic and technical glitches in the IT portal.

Earlier, the deadline was extended to September 30, 2021.

Usually, the last date for filing the ITR (income tax returns) for individual taxpayers is July 31.

The CBDT has also extended the ITR filing deadline for companies till February 15, 2022 from November 30, 2021.

Narayan Jain, chairman, DTPA Representation Committee, said, “It was necessary in view of the fact that the income tax portal is still not fully functional. Though the deadline fixed by the finance minister for Infosys was 15th September, it seems the progress is only marginal. The extension is only a temporary solution but the portal has to be functional in the desired manner. The time extended in the case of tax audit cases is not sufficient. It needs to be reviewed.”

The due date for filing the tax audit report and transfer pricing certificate has been extended to January 15, 2022 and January 31, 2022, respectively, from the existing deadlines of October 31 and November 30, respectively.

For filing belated or revised return of income, the last date has been extended by another two months to March 31, 2022.

Aarti Raote, partner, Deloitte India, said, “This is a welcome move considering the glitches in the website are still to be resolved. However, one needs to note that where taxes are payable, the interest levy for default and deferment in advance taxes would continue till the filing of the tax return. Hence it is ideal that the taxpayers pay taxes and file their returns as soon as feasible.”

Refunds for exporters

The government on Thursday said it is releasing Rs 56,027 crore against pending tax refunds of exporters under different export inventive schemes.

The amount would be disbursed to more than 45,000 exporters. The amount is being released under various export promotion schemes.

This amount is over and above the duty remission of Rs 12,454 crore for the Remission of Duties and Taxes on Export Products (RoDTEP) scheme and Rs 6,946 crore for Rebate of State and Central Levies and Taxes (RoSCTL) scheme already announced.