In the wake of the second wave of Covid-19 pandemic that has critically hit the economy (by dampening production along with demand)in addition to disturbing day to day life and consequently created emergency situation, the entire mechanism of tax filing and payment has been shaken by low production, low sale, and procrastination of nearly all activities.
Amidst this crisis, the Association of Industries & Institutions along with A.S Construction have filed a writ petition in the Gujarat High Court. It shall be argued by Advocate Dr. Avinash Poddar, Advocate Mr. Vishal Dave, Advocates Dr. Gaurav Gupta, and Advocate Mr. Nipun Singhvi. The learned counsel is seeking an extension in the due dates for GST, Income tax, and other statutory compliances.
The aforesaid counsel has also put forth an alternative that is seeking an order from the honourable court to direct the government of relaxing the amount of late fee that is levied on the taxpayers.
“Last year when the country was put under lockdown to contain the spread of COVID-19 virus, the government at their own had extended the due dates of compliances under various acts. However, the government has not taken any step or has not been proactive in extending the due dates this time around when the situation is more critical than last year where rightfully citizens of India are more concerned about their and family’s safety rather than completing the various compliances under the various Acts. The petitioner seeks a similar kind of relaxation,” the petition said.
“That, the petitioners submit that if the due dates are extended beyond 31st July 2021 or till the pandemic is contained, whichever is later, it would be important from the perspective of their life and life of their families as they would refrain from moving to their offices and client places,” it added.
It is also prayed in the petition that the present emergency-like situation across the country from corona pandemic-19 is beyond the control of entire machinery and therefore, the assessees should not face any unnecessary difficulty in one way or the other.
The petitioners have also prayed for direction from the Court to give instructions to the tax departments of not initiating any coercive action on the assessees as per various Acts until and unless prior approval of the appropriate authority has been taken and this modus operandi is requested to continue till the time the pandemic settles down.
