The last date for filing income tax returns for FY19 has been extended to June 30, said Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday in a press briefing via video conference.
She added that the interest rate for delayed payment has been cut from 12% to 9%.
The decision comes amidst the coronavirus pandemic which has rocked the world, claiming 16,585 lives and infecting 383,894 people globally.
In India, 32 states and UTs have announced a complete lockdown in the entire state/UT covering 560 districts after the total number of positive cases rose to 446 as on March 24. 37 are cured/discharged/migrated cases and 9 deaths have been registered, said the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.
FM Sitharaman also said that they will soon announce the economic package to help India fight against the deadly coronavirus. "We are readying an economic package to help us through the Corona lockdown (on priority, to be announced soon)," she said.
Along with IT returns, Sitharaman also announced that the last date for March, April, May 2020 GST returns and composition returns have been extended extended to June 30th, 2020.
The Finance Minister also said, "The last date to link your Aadhaar and PAN card has now been extended to June 30."
