Income Tax Returns: Last chance to claim Section 80C benefits for FY2019-20

Income Tax Returns: Last few months have been financially challenging for most salaried employees. Several industries have been forced to either let go of people or cut their salaries. To provide relief, the government had announced some key changes to the income tax compliance requirements and also extended some deadlines, including extension in the date for linking PAN with Aadhaar, as also filing ITR (income tax return) for FY2018-19. 

The move allowed the common man to have an extended period to complete these important tasks. However, these deadlines are now coming to an end, one by one - today is the last day. So, for those, who want to claim income tax benefits under Section 80C, this is the last chance. 

The deadline to make tax-saving investments for FY2019-20, which was extended by the government to July 31, is here. All the taxpayers that have filed income tax under the old regime, need to finalise their investments to reduce their tax outgo. These investments can be made online from your home and declared later on. 

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The investors are advised to keep their financial goals and risk appetite in mind before putting money in any scheme.  

Some popular tax deductions that fall under Section 80C include: Public Provident Fund, Employees' Provident Fund, Fixed Deposits, Nation Pension System, Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana, Life Insurance Premium etc. 

Meanwhile, the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has extended the last date for filing belated Income Tax Return (ITR) for the financial year 2018-19 (AY2019-20). The date has been extended from July 31 to September 30, 2020. This comes as a relief for those who were yet to file the belated ITR and were probably looking at paying big penalties.  

“In view of the constraints due to the Covid pandemic & to further ease compliances for taxpayers, CBDT extends the due dt for filing of Income Tax Returns for FY 2018-19(AY 2019-20) from 31st July, 2020 to 30th September, 2020, vide Notification in S.O. 2512(E) dt 29th July, 2020,” the income tax department said in a new tweet.