Home Articles Employees Provident Fund to ITR Filing rules: 9 big changes to know...
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The current financial year will end on March 31 and the deadline for completing several financial tasks is also the end of this month. While some of these changes are according to the announcements made by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in Union Budget 2021, some others are important tasks that taxpayers should complete before the start of the new financial year.
Here’s a look at 9 such important changes
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PAN-Aadhaar linking: The Central government has extended the deadline to link PAN with Aadhaar several times. Unless the government extends the deadline again, the last date to link the documents is March 31, 2021. If the PAN is not linked with Aadhaar number by March 31, PAN will become inoperative from April 1, 2021. After that you will not be able to conduct any financial transaction once his/her PAN becomes inoperative.If you fail to link the two documents by the deadline and your PAN becomes inoperative, it will be assumed that your PAN has not been furnished as required by the law and a penalty of Rs 10,000 may apply as per Section 272B of the Income Tax Act.
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Revised ITR filing: In case there has been an error in your ITR, you can file revised income tax return by March 31. In you have not filed ITR yet, you can also file a delayed income tax return for FY 2019-20. You must file the revised ITR before March 31. If you file after this, then you may have to pay a late fee of up to Rs 10,000. However, if your income is up to Rs 5 lakh, then you will have to pay a fee of Rs 1,000.
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LTC Cash Voucher Scheme bill submission: Government employees are required to submit their Leave Travel Concession Cash Voucher (LTC) by March 31, 2021, in order to avail of the tax benefits that are provided under the scheme. It is mandatory to submit the bill by 31 March in the correct format. It is also necessary to have the GST amount and number. The scheme was announced by the Central Government in October 2020.
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Salary details submission of previous employer: In case a person was employed with more than one employer in the current fiscal year, details of salary with the previous employer need to be given to the current employer. This will help in ensuring that proper tax deductions are made by the current employer. This should be done by March 31 as well.
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Contribution to PPF and NPS accounts: A subscriber of PPF or NPS accounts needs to make sure that he/she deposits a minimum contribution of Rs 500 per year in order to avoid the account becoming dormant. In case of a PPF account in your own name or in the name of children or spouse, You need to make a minimum contribution of Rs 500 by March 31 to avoid the account becoming dormant. The same also applies to the NPS account as well.
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Long-term capital gains: Long-term capital gains on equity shares which are listed and equity schemes are completely exempt up to Rs. 1 lakh. The balance is then taxed at 10 per cent. The long-term capital gains can be booked before March 31, if not done already.
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Vivad Vishwas Scheme: March 31 is the last date for filing declaration under Vivad Se Vishwas scheme. The date for payment of tax without additional interest under the scheme is 30 April 2021.
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Provident Fund Tax Rule: From April 1, The government will tax interest on annual employee contributions to PF over Rs 2.5 lakh.
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TDS rule change: Higher TDS (tax deducted at source) or TCS (tax collected at source) will be charged from those not filing ITR. This provision was announced in Budget 2021.
