Due to technical glitches, GST changes, and recent floods, various associations are demanding an extension for filing income tax returns (ITR). They have called for a revised deadline to help businesses and tax professionals cope with significant workloads.
The Gujarat Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI) wants the ITR deadline for non-audit cases pushed from Sep 15 to Oct 30. For audited ITRs, they propose a Dec 31 deadline instead of Oct 30.
Tax practitioners said there is a need to extend the deadlines because the utility was released after a delay, and recently several states have been facing flood-like situations. Additionally, a number of professionals are working to realign businesses with revised GST rates.
Chairman of GCCI’s direct tax committee, said, “The rollout of GST 2.0 with major rate and compliance changes requires businesses to realign systems, ERP modules, and internal processes. Industries are still in transition, and professionals are devoting substantial time to helping them adapt. Tax professionals are assisting clients in updating systems, restructuring contracts, and realigning processes. This additional and urgent responsibility is consuming significant professional bandwidth. Alongside, the compliance season is coinciding with multiple Indian festivals which involve extended holidays, widespread travel, and reduced staff availability at both client offices and professional firms. The recent spell of heavy rains and flood-like situations in many regions has further disrupted normal life, causing frequent office closures, power outages, and internet breakdowns.”
Former president of the Gujarat Sales Tax Bar Association, said, “Apart from delayed utilities, the functioning of income tax portal has not been smooth, and return filing takes much more time. Also, annual income statement (AIS) mismatch issues have delayed filing for a large number of taxpayers. There is a need to extend the ITR filing deadline.”
The Central India Regional Council of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) has also demanded an extension in the audited returns deadline. Chairman of the Ahmedabad branch of ICAI, said, “There are multiple reasons to demand an extension for the ITR filing deadline this year. There are still some technical issues in return filing, and also, professionals have a much higher workload after the GST rate reduction.”
Source #TOI
