The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has clarified in a circular issued on April 3 (Friday) that Forms 15G and 15H submitted to banks for financial year 2019-20 will be valid up to June 30.

Normally, depositors have to submit the forms if tax at source is not to be deducted by banks while paying/crediting interest on the deposits. In the normal course, for financial year 2020-21, they would have had to submit the forms April 1, 2020, before the date when the interest becomes due.

Bank retirees/pensioners and their associations had escalated the matter to the All India Bank Employees Association (AIBEA) and requested it to take up the matter for getting extended time since it will be difficult to go the bank branches at this time to submit the forms, especially for aged people.

The AIBEA represented the issue the CBDT to consider extension of time for submission of the forms, said CH Venkitachalam, General Secretary, AIBEA.

The CBDT circular noted that the Covid-19 pandemic has led to severe disruption in the normal working of almost all sectors of the economy including in banks and other institutions. In the circumstances, there can be situations in which eligible persons are not able to submit Forms 15G and 15H in time. This would lead to deduction of TDS by banks and institutions even where there is no tax liability.

The circular clarified if a person had submitted these forms to banks for financial year 2019-20, these would now be valid up to June 30, 2020, for financial year 2020-21 also. The circular also said that the payer who has not deducted tax on the basis of the forms, shall report the details of such payments/credits in the TDS statement for the quarter ending June 30, 2020.

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