Good news for taxpayers! The Central government today announced that the taxpayers have time till July 31 to complete their tax-saving exercise for FY2019-20. The earlier deadline was June 30, 2020. In the wake of coronavirus outbreak in the country, the Central Board of Direct Taxes today extended time limit for making various investments and claiming deductions.
The investments qualifying for tax deduction include deposits in mutual fund ELSS, PPF, NSC, LIC premium, SSY, NPS subscription, health insurance payments and others.
"The date for making various investment/ payment for claiming deduction under Chapter-VIA-B of the IT Act which includes section 80C (LIC, PPF, NSC etc.), 80D (Mediclaim), 80G (Donations) etc. has also been further extended to 31st July, 2020. Hence the investment/ payment can be made up to 31st July, 2020 for claiming the deduction under these sections for FY 2019-20," the finance ministry said in a statement.
Under section 80C, an individual can claim a deduction of up to ₹150,000. Similarly, a taxpayer can claim deduction for health insurance under section 80D, donations under section 80G.
The extension will provide some relief to taxpayers. The coronavirus pandemic has affected us in more ways than one. The Central government implemented a nationwide lockdown in the last week of March. The economy has come to a standstill in the wake of pandemic. Due to lockdown, many taxpayers have missed the earlier deadlines to invest in tax-saving scheme.
The Centre today extended the deadline for filing income-tax returns (ITR) for the 2018-19 fiscal by a month till July 31, 2020. The time limit to link Aadhaar card with PAN card has been extended till March 31, 2021.
