New Delhi:
Amid a complete shutdown in almost all over the country to control the spread of the highly contagious coronavirus or Covid-19 infection. Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman today has said the deadline for filing income tax returns for the financial year 2018-19 has been extended till 30 June, 2020 from the existing last date of 31 March.The interest rate on delayed payment of returns has also been cut to 9 per cent from 12 per cent.
Addressing a press conference on Tuesday for announcing a slew of relaxation measures related to compliance and regulation, Sitharaman has reiterated that an economic package will be announced sooner, rather than later.
The government is closely monitoring the situation, she said.
“We are closely monitoring the situation. SEBI has come up with guidelines and stated its position on the recent volatility. We are in contact with regulators at leat thrice a day. We are monitoring the stock market.All regulators, the RBI and finance ministry working together to keep monitoring volatility in stock markets,'' added Sitharaman.
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Prime Minister Narendra Modi has also announced setting up of a task force, to be headed by Sitharaman, to look at measures to limit economic hardship caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Some of the steps Sitharaman announced for tackling the unprecedented global crisis due to spread of Caronavirus are:
-Banks will not impose any minimum balance requirement fee for a three-month period,
– Bank charges are also being reduced for digital trade and transactions.
–ATM withdrawal from any bank’s ATM will be free of charge for the next three months, said Sitharaman..
-FY19 I-T filing, Aadhaar-PAN linking deadline extended to June 30, 2020
-IBC Section 7, 9 and 10 may be suspended for six months to stop companies being forced to insolvency,
The existing threshold of ₹1 lakh hiked to ₹1 crore. This is being done to protect MSMEs.
– For a director in any company, less than minimum residency of 182 days, shall now not be treated as a violation: Sitharaman.
-For newly incorporated companies: 6 more months to file commencement of business report.
– Vivad se Vishwas tax dispute resolution scheme extended by 3 months to June 30. Those availing the scheme by the extended deadline will not have to pay 10 per cent interest on the principal amount: Sitharaman.
-Applicability of Companies Auditors’ Report Order 2020 shifted to 2020-21: FM
-Board meeting rules relaxed for 60 days: FM
-Customs clearance now an essential service, till June 30th, 2020 it will be working 24/7: