EPFO Nomination, Annual GST Return Filing: Govt Extends Deadlines for Key Money Tasks

Extension of Deadlines Beyond December 31: The government has extended the deadlines for multiple sectors in various announcements over the past two days. From EPFO nominee filing to updating of KYC ( Know Your Customer) for customers at Regulated entities, different wings of the government have been updating deadlines which were supposed to be on December 31. Thus, citizens across India now have more time to relax and file the updates accordingly, without any pressure on them for the time being. In this regard, it must be informed that these deadlines were largely extended due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic that has seen a fresh bout of cases with the emergence of the new Omicron variant.

Here is a list of deadlines that have been extended by the government from December 31 to other dates: 

i) EPFO Nomination Filing Date Extended Beyond December 31

The Employees Provident Fund Organisation, or EPFO, on Thursday, December 30 said that members can now file nomination in their EPF accounts beyond December 31, which was the prescribed deadline to do the work. This time, it did not specify a deadline. However, the government-backed retirement body encouraged account holders to file for e-nomination as soon as possible.

The latest move comes after many users complained of glitches in the EPFO portal while filing for e-nomination. As per several users who complained on Twitter, the EPFO portal is not allowing them to file for a nominee and is showing an error message whenever they are trying to get the job done.

“It is critical for subscribers to register nominations to care for their spouse, children, and parents and to safeguard them through online PF, pension, and insurance,” the EPFO had said in a statement. Filing of nomination is aimed at ensuring benefits for the dependents of the PF account holder in event of a mishap with him or her. The nominee will be able to receive benefits from the insurance and pension schemes if such an incident happens to an account holder.

ii) Extension of FY21 GST Annual Return Filing Deadline Till February 28

The government has also extended by two months till February 28 the deadline for businesses to file GST annual returns for 2020-21 fiscal ended March 2021. “The due date for furnishing annual return in FORM GSTR-9 & self-certified reconciliation statement in FORM GSTR-9C for the financial year 2020-21 has been extended from 31.12.2021 to 28.02.2022,” the Central Board of Indirect Taxes & Customs (CBIC) said in a late-night tweet on Wednesday, December 29.

GSTR 9 is an annual return to be filed yearly by taxpayers registered under the Goods and Services Tax (GST). It consists of details regarding the outward and inward supplies made or received under different tax heads. GSTR-9C is a statement of reconciliation between GSTR-9 and the audited annual financial statement.

Furnishing of the annual return is mandatory only for taxpayers with aggregate annual turnover above Rs 2 crore while a reconciliation statement is to be furnished only by the registered persons having aggregate turnover above Rs 5 crore.

iii) RBI’s Extension on Periodic Updation of KYC for Restricted Entities

The Reserve Bank of India on Thursday extended the deadline to mandatorily update the KYC requirements periodically by three months to March 31, 2022. The central bank said that the relaxation was given in view of the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. “In view of the prevalent uncertainty due to new variant of Covid 19, the relaxation provided in the aforementioned circular is hereby extended till March 31, 2022,” said the RBI in a notification while referring to its earlier circular that required bank customers to update their KYC information within December 31 this year. Bank customers were required to update their KYC information by this date for unrestricted deposition or withdrawal from their accounts.

(With PTI Inputs)

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