New Delhi, Apr 4 :In a measure to mitigate the hardship of people amid the Novel Coronavirus crisis, the Income Tax Department on Saturday allowed individuals to submit Form 15G and 15H for the current fiscal after June 30, for claiming exemption from TDS on interest income.
In an order, the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) said the 15G and 15H forms submitted last fiscal will remain valid till June 30, 2020, since the Covid-19 pandemic has caused severe disruption in the normal working of almost all sectors of the economy, including banks and other institutions.
According to a notification issued by the Central Board for Direct Taxes, ”All the assessees who have filed application for lower or nil deduction of TDS/TCS for FY 2020-21 and whose applications are pending for disposal as on date and they have been issued such certificates for FY 2019-20, then such certificates would be applicable till June 30, 2020 of FY 2020-21 or disposal of their applications by the Assessing Officers, whichever is earlier, in respect of the transaction and the deductor or collector if any, for whom the certificate was issued for FY 2019-20.
”In cases, where the assessees could not apply for issue of lower or nil deduction of TDS/TCS in the Traces Portal for the FY 2020-21, but were having the certificates for FY 2019-20, such certificates will be applicable till June 30, 2020 of FY 2020-21. ”
To mitigate the hardships of small taxpayers, it has been decided that if a person had submitted valid Forms 15G and 15H to the Banks or other institutions for F.Y. 2019-20, then these Forms would be valid up to 30.06.2020. This will safeguard the small tax payers against TDS where there is no tax liability (Order passed on 03.04.2020).
Forms 15G and 15H are filed by persons whose incomes are below the taxable threshold, to seek exemption from TDS on interest income.
While Form 15H is submitted by senior citizens, 15G can be filed by an individual whose taxable income is less than the exemption threshold.
These forms are usually submitted by taxpayers to banks and financial institutions in April.
Date for submitting forms for claiming exemption from TDS extended
