India Eases Tax Compliance Norms Amid Coronavirus Woes - Finance Minister

Tuesday,   24-Mar-2020   03:27 PM (IST)

India’s federal government today eased a number of tax compliance norms and relaxed late payment charges in a bid to extend relief to citizens amid the spread of deadly coronavirus that has disrupted economic activities. The last date for filing income tax returns for fiscal year 2019 has been extended to Jun 30 of this year and interest rate on delayed income tax payments for FY19 has been cut to 9% from 12%, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said. The government has also decided to extend a direct tax dispute settlement to June-end and no additional 10% charge for the April to June period will be levied, she added. The deadline for document submission and compliance has also been extended to Jun 30, Sitharaman said. The government extended the deadline to Jun. 30 for filing of goods and services tax returns for March to May and it will not impose GST interest or penalty on companies with turnover of up to 50 million rupees. Companies having a turnover of above 50 million rupees will pay a lower interest rate of 9%, the finance minister said. Sitharaman also announced that a legacy dispute resolution scheme relating to legacy service tax and central excise has been extended to the end of June.