Chartered accountants are demanding an extension of the income tax returns (ITR) deadline by at least a month.
The last date for filing ITR for the financial year 2020-21 is December 31, but technical glitches and shortage of staff have interrupted the workflow, they say.
Many accountants are
voicing the demand on Twitter with a campaign called #Extend_due_date_immediately.
Experts from Bengaluru explain to Metrolife why they are unable to meet the current deadline.
P Prakash, a tax practitioner in Jayanagar, says Annual Information System (AIS), a new feature on the IT department’s website, doesn’t function well.
In many cases, we filed returns but got a notification stating the returns filed weren’t proper, he explains.
Timmayya Hegde, a partner with an accountancy firm in Sahakarnagar, points to another caveat: “For companies that have incurred a loss return, we need to calculate a minimum alternative tax but that feature is not working on the website.” Currently, returns like ITR-1 (for salaried individuals) can be filed smoothly, he adds.
If the technical glitches are fixed immediately, a deadline extension till January 31 will suffice, says Timmayya, who is part of the Bengaluru chapter of ICAI and Karnataka State Chartered Accountants Association (KSCAA).
‘We are short-staffed’
Chartered accountancy firms are running short-staffed because of the holiday season. In many firms, employees are still working from their hometowns and want to stay put because of the looming threat of the third wave of Covid.
Moreover, many trainees, who had taken time off to write CA, CMA and CS examinations, are yet to resume office. As a result, these firms are working at capacity.
Everyone at Timmayya’s firm ended up working for 12 to 16 hours instead of their 8-hour shift on the Christmas weekend. With the ongoing night curfew, we will have to let the staff leave early, he shares another worry.
Paresh S Shah is a proprietor of a CA firm at J C Road. Even his staff is working overtime to process income tax audits, GST audits and non-audit ITR filing, the deadlines of all which are clashing. Remote working won’t solve the problem because accountants have to often meet clients during ITR filing and tax audits. There are many documents and agreements that clients are not comfortable sharing online and have to be physically verified, he explains.
‘No harm in extending’
While many are seeking an extension of 15 days to a month, some want to buy time till March 31, 2022. Paresh S Shah, proprietor of a CA firm, feels there is no harm in postponing the due date because there will be no loss of tax or interest to the government, which is liable to anyone filing ITR from August 2021.
Timmayya Hegde, a partner with an accountancy firm, says if the extension is not granted soon, it will impact other tax filing processes and many clients will have to pay a penalty.
‘Check our portal’
Metrolife contacted the income tax department in Bengaluru and asked if a deadline extension was in the offing. An official said there was no news about it yet, and updates would be put up on the tax portal.
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