When to file company tax return and which form to use

Companies in India are required to file tax return by September 30^th of the year following the close of its tax year. If you have incorporated a private or public limited company then also September 30 is the due date for filing income tax return (ITR).

Therefore if income is earned for the financial year 2018-19 then company tax return for the same year has to be filed on or before 30^th September 2019.

ITR can also be filed within 1 year from the end of the financial year but in that case, tax officer may levy a penalty of 5,000 rupees under section 271F for late filing. In addition to it you are also liable to pay late filing fee for missing the due date.

As per tax law, company must file its tax return in the prescribed form irrespective of its turnover or profit. If company has not yet started business, then company has to file a NIL return to comply with tax law.

If your business has a loss then by filing ITR before the due date, you can carry forward your losses and get it set-off with future your profit as per the tax provisions.

By filing loss return before due date, you can lower your tax burden in the future profitable year.

Income Tax Return Form Applicable to a Company

The first step is determining the correct tax form to use. Income Tax Department has notified income tax return form 6 (ITR-6) for all type of companies.

ITR-6 has to be used by all private and public limited companies except companies claiming exemption under section 11 (charitable object) to file their income tax return.

At present, it is mandatory for companies to e-file their ITR using authorized director’s digital signature. No document should be attached to ITR-6 while filing the return. Companies are not required to send ITR-V copies to Bangalore CPC.

If accounts of the company is liable for audit under section 44AB of IT act, 1961 then the details of audit report along with the date of furnishing it to the department has to be filled in ITR-6 under the head “Audit Information”.

You are also required to get your accounts audited from a chartered accountant in practice as per company law.

In order to remove inconvenience and to facilitate ease of compliance, CBDT may extend due date of filing ITR-6. If it’s get extended, then such extended date will be considered as due date instead of 30^th September.