FM says withdrawals from all ATMs will be free; extends Aadhaar-PAN linking deadline too

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, on Tuesday, announced a slew of measures to reduce the stress on coronavirus-hit India Inc and India.

The Covid-19 death toll in India currently stands at 10 with nearly 500 confirmed cases of the infection. The total number of COVID-19 cases rose to 492, including 446 active cases. 

These were her big announcements:

Financial services: 

1. For 3 months, debit cards can be used to withdraw money from any bank’s ATM without any extra charges.

2. The bank charges for digital trade transactions have been reduced.

3. Maintaining the minimum amount balance in bank accounts will not be mandatory for three months.

4. The Aadhaar-PAN linking deadline has also been extended to June 30, 2020

Tax deadlines:

1. Deadline to file 2018-19  Income Tax returns has been extended to 30 June 2020.

2. Interest rates have been reduced to 9 per cent from 18 per cent on delayed deposit of TDS.

GST deadlines: 

1. Deadline to file March, April, and May, GST returns have also been pushed to 30 June 2020.

2. Companies with less than Rs 5-crore turnover, will not have to pay interest, late fee, or penalty.

3. For bigger companies (over Rs 5-crore turnover), no late fee and penalty will be charged but the interest will be levied at a reduced rate of 9 per cent.

Major company announcements:  

1. In a relief to small businesses, insolvency proceedings threshold limit extended to Rs 1 crore from existing Rs 1 lakh.

2. Mandatory requirement for holding Board meeting has been relaxed for 60 days for the next two quarters.

3. In respect of the MCA21 registry, there is a moratorium being issued from April 1 till September 30. No additional fee for late filing.

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