Announcements from Nirmala Sitharaman press conference- in view of COVID 19 chaos

Finance Minister Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman, considering the current situation in the nation on coronavirus outbreak, briefed the media via Video conferencing. The conference was held specifically to make some announcements on Statutory and compliance matters as the financial year comes to an end. The major focus was on giving relief in various compliance norms, relief in GST, relief in income tax etc. What were the announcements, let’s have look:

Extension of Due dates and other relief in compliance norms and measures announced in FM speech amidst Covid 19 chaos:

1. Income Tax Compliance Relief Measures

• Deadline for filing Income tax return fiiling for FY 18-19 extended from 31st March 2020 to 30th June 2020
• Linking of PAN with Aadhar extended from 31st March 2020 to 30th June 2020
• Vivad Se Vishwas Scheme due date extended from 31st March 2020 to 30th June 2020
• Interest rate reduced on delayed deposit of TDS to 9% pa. till 30/06/2020 from 18% p.a.
• Due date of doing investments under section 80C etc and chapter Vi-A extended to 30th June 2020.
• Due date of investing under section 54EC stands extended to 30th June 2020.
• Due date for issue of notice, intimation, appeal, furnishing of returns, reports and any other documents/compliance by the taxpayer including investment in savings investment or roll-over capital gains benefit or Wealth Tax Act or Benami Act or Black Money Act or STT Law or CTT Law or Equalisation Levy where the time limit expired on 20th March 2020 will be 30th June 2020.

2. GST Compliance Relief Measures:

• Date for opting for composition scheme extended to 30th June 2020
• Last date for filing GST returns for the month of march, april and may 2020 extended to 30th June 2020 as per staggered return filing due dates for states
• No late fee or penalty will be charged for companies with a turnover Rs 5 crore or lower that file GST late
• Those with a turnover of more than Rs 5 crore, will pay a reduced interest rate of 9 percent
• Sabka Vishvas Scheme extended till 30th June 2020 with no interest payable for late payment.
• FM Sitharaman Also announced that During the period of lock-down, customs clearance till 30th June 2020 will operate 24 x 7 without any disruption.

Here is a table showing all the important GST due dates that has been extended:

3. Relief for exporters / Importers

• Sabka Vishwas scheme is extended to 30th June 2020

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4. MCA/ROC Compliance Relief for corporates

• In respect of the MCA registry, there’s a moratorium issued effective from 1st April 2020 to 30th September 2020. There would not be any additional filing fees
• CARO 2020 applicability shifted to be effective from the year 2020-21 and not from 2019-20.
• Commencement of business form INC 20A due date extended for further 6 months
• Mandatory board meetings requirements relaxed for 60 further days
• The FM also announced that the applicability of companies’ auditor’s report order 2020 which was supposed to come into force for FY20 will now only be effective from FY21.
• Additional 6 months time to file declaration for commencement of business for newly incorporated companies. Requirement to create deposit reserve of 20 percent of deposits by April can now also be complied with by June 30, 2020, she noted.
• If there no Director in a company who does not comply with minimum residence requirement (182 days or more), this was earlier treated as a violation. This violation is now removed.

5. Commerce Related Relief

• Debit card holders can withdraw cash from any bank free of charge for next three months.

6. Banking related compliance relief measures

• No minimum balance requirements for next three months
• Charges for digital trades reduced
• There will be no minimum balance requirement fee imposed by banks and bank charges will be reduced for digital transactions.

7. Relief to MSMSe in case of Insolvency and Bankruptcy:

• The threshold for default classification under Insolvency and Bankruptcy is increased from Rs.1 lakh to 1 Crores on immediate bases to prevent usage of the IBC Act against MSMEs
• Further FM Sitharaman said that If the COVID-19 situation continues after 30 April 2020, various provisions of IBC would be suspended by the Government to protect businesses.

Also see how MCA has decided to give relief to companies and LLP- Introduces Companies Fresh Start scheme 2020 and Revised LLP settlement Scheme, 2020