Amid coronavirus outbreak in India, Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman in a video conference announced several crucial strategies. Addressing the media, she announced the reliefs and essential announcements regarding income tax and GST.
Here are some major highlights of the video conference –
- The date of filing GST returns is extended to 30 June 2020. The government has extended the time for fining March, April, May GST returns to provide relief to small traders. Late fees will not get imposed on business people with turnover below Rs 5 crore.
However, a turnover of more than Rs 5 crore will pull a 9 per cent late fee. No extension on the last date of the TDS deposit. Interest rate reduced from 18 per cent to 9 per cent.
- The government has decided to extend the deadline of the “vivad se vishwas” to scheme June 30, 2020. This limit was earlier till 31 March 2020. Similarly, the date of the scheme of “sabka vishwas” is increased to 30 June 2020.
Postponed to June 30th, 2020: Aadhar-PAN linking date and Vivad Se Vishwas Scheme (from April 1 to June 30, no additional 10% payment)
— ANI (@ANI) March 24, 2020
- The deadline for linking Aadhaar-PAN is also increased to 30 June 2020. Earlier, the last date for linking Aadhaar with PAN was 31 March 2020.
- The minimum account balance penalty fees are now waived off. Debit card holders of any bank can withdraw money from any ATMs without any charges.
Indian Bankruptcy Code (IBC) on the verge of getting suspended
The government may suspend the Indian Bankruptcy Code (IBC) to give relief to companies affected by Coronavirus. The threshold limit under IBC has now increased from Rs 1 lakh to Rs 1 crore. The Finance Minister said that if the condition does not improve by April, then sections 7,8 and 10 will be suspended for the next six months.
Nirmala Sitharaman said that the lockdown is imposed in the whole country to prevent the infection of the coronavirus. Furthermore, an economic package will get announced soon to save the economy. The number of coronavirus patients in the country has reached close to 500, and nine people have died.
Central Government Directs State Governments to deploy fiscal resources
Central Government has asked all State Governments to deploy fiscal resources for establishing additional medical facilities such as hospitals, clinical labs, isolation wards, expanding & upgrading existing facilities to combat the challenge posed by #COVID19: Government of India pic.twitter.com/hVMHAFGq10
— ANI (@ANI) March 24, 2020
