A public interest litigation (PIL) petition was filed in the Bombay High Court on Monday seeking directions to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), the Union finance ministry, and tax authorities to extend the deadline to pay taxes and State loan instalments from March 31 to December 31, citing the lockdown due to COVID-19.
The petition filed by social activist Ketan Tirodkar through advocate Aparna Vhatkar said the economy of the State and the country had been severely hit in view of the mandatory restrictions on all businesses and commercial activities.
“Those who run businesses and are involved in commercial activities are not in a position to pay their loans and taxes that are outstanding. Even the State is not in a position to pay instalments of loans to the Centre,” the PIL said, adding it will take some time to recover and for the situation to normalise after the COVID-19 scare.
The petition sought directions to the Union finance ministry, the Central government, and the State finance ministry to push the deadline to December 31. It also sought waiver of penalties in the event of tax payers not being able to comply within the due date.
