Circular No.15/2021

Circular No.15 of 2021 regarding Extension of time lines for electronic filing of various Forms under the Income-tax Act, 1961-reg

What this is

Circular No.15/2021 was issued by the Central Board of Direct Taxes on 3 August 2021. Its subject is Circular No.15 of 2021 regarding Extension of time lines for electronic filing of various Forms under the Income-tax Act, 1961-reg.

This is an extension of time. It moves a date that the Act or the Rules otherwise fix, and it does so only for the compliance and the period it names — not for anything else that happens to fall due at the same time.

What it does

A second round of extensions for electronic filing of forms, under section 119, over and above those already given by Circular No. 12/2021 dated 25 June 2021. The quarterly statement in Form No. 15CC by an authorised dealer for the quarter ended 30 June 2021, due under rule 37BB by 15 July 2021 and already carried to 31 July 2021, could go in by 31 August 2021, as could the Equalisation Levy Statement in Form No. 1 for financial year 2020-21. The investment fund statements under rule 12CB moved further: Form No. 64D for previous year 2020-21 to 15 September 2021 and Form No. 64C to 30 September 2021. Because the utilities were not available at all, the intimation by a pension fund in Form No. 10BBB under rule 2DB for the quarter ended 30 June 2021, and the intimation by a sovereign wealth fund in Form II SWF for the same quarter under Circular No. 15/2020 dated 22 July 2020, both due by 31 July 2021, were carried to 30 September 2021. The circular also regularises these forms where they had already been e-filed after the expiry of the earlier time limits.

Why it was issued

Taxpayers and other stakeholders reported difficulty in filing these forms electronically, and for two of them the e-filing utility was not available at all — the period of trouble on the new filing portal.

Who it reaches

Authorised dealers furnishing quarterly Form No. 15CC
Persons liable to file the Equalisation Levy Statement for financial year 2020-21
Investment funds furnishing Form No. 64C and Form No. 64D to unit holders
Notified pension funds and sovereign wealth funds filing quarterly intimations

The provisions it speaks to

Left, the provision of the Income-tax Act, 1961 as the instrument itself names it. Right, the section of the Income-tax Act, 2025 that the department’s own concordance maps it to — which is where the same ground is now covered.

Under the 1961 Act	Now
s.119	s.239

The instrument, as the Board published it

The department publishes this one only as a PDF, so the words below were read out of that PDF by machine. That reading can carry its own mistakes — a misread number, a broken line. Check the signed document before you rely on a figure in it.

F .NO.225/49/2021I1TA-1I Government of India Ministry of Finance Department of Revenue Central Board of Direct Taxes Circular No. 15 12021 New Delhi, Dated 3'd August, 2021 Subject: Extension of time lines for electronic filing of various Forms under the Income-tax Act,1961 1. On consideration of difficulties reported by the taxpayers and other stakeholders in electronic filing of certain Forms under the provisions of the Income-tax Act,1961 (Act) read with Income-tax Rules,1962 (Rules), the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT), in exercise of its powers under Section 119 of the Act, extends the due dates for electronic filing of such Forms as under: (i) The Quarterly statement in Form No. 15CC to be furnished by authorized dealer in respect of rem ittances made for the quarter ending on 30th June, 2021 , required to be furnished on or before 15th July, 2021 under Rule 37BB of the Rules, as extended to 31't Ju1Y,2021 vide Circular No.1 2 of 2021 dated 25.06.2021 , may be filed on or before 31 st August, 2021; (ii) The Equalization Levy Statement in Form No.1 for the Financial Year 2020- 21, which was required to be filed on or before 30th June, 2021 , as extended to 31 st July, 2021 vide Circular No.12 of 2021 dated 25.06.2021 , may be filed on or before 31 st August, 2021; (iii) The Statement of Income paid or credited by an investment fund to its unit holder in Form No. 640 for the Previous Year 2020-21 , required to be furnished on or before 15th June, 2021 under Rule 12CB of the Rules, as extended to 15th Ju1Y,2021 vide Circular No.12 of2021 dated 25.06.2021 , may be furnished on or before 15th September,2021 ; (iv) The Statement of Income paid or credited by an investment fund to its unit holder in Form No. 64C for the Previous Year 2020-21 , required to be furnished on or before 30th June, 2021 under Rule 12CB of the Rules, as extended to 31st July, 2021 vide Circular No. 12 of 2021 dated 25.06.2021 , may be furnished on or before 30th September, 2021 . 2. Further, considering the non-availability of the utility for e-filing of certain Forms, the CBDT, in exercise of its powers under Section 119 of the Act, extends the due dates for electronic filing of such Forms as under: Page 1 of2 (i) Intimation to be made by a Pension Fund in respect of each investment made by it in India in Form No. 10BBB for the quarter ending on 30th June,2021 , required to be furnished on or before 31 st Ju1Y,2021 under Rule 2DB of the Rules, may be furnished on or before 30th September, 2021 ; (ii) Intimation to be made by Sovereign Wealth Fund in respect of investments made by it in India in Form II SWF for the quarter ending on 30th June,2021, required to be furnished on or before 31 st Ju1Y,2021 as per Circular No.15 of 2020 dated 22.07.2020, may be furnished on or before 30th September, 2021. 3. It is also clarified that the above said forms, e-filed, after the expiry of time limits provided as per Circular No.12 of 2021 dated 25.06.2021 or as per the relevant provisions, till date, will stand regularised accordingly. (Sourabh Jain) Under Secretary to the Government of India Copy to: 1. PS to F.M.I PS to MoS (F). 2. PS to Revenue Secretary. 3. Chairman (CBDT)& All Members of CBDT. 4. All Pro CCsIT/CCsIT/Pr. DGsITIDGsIT. 5. All Joint Secretaries/CsIT, CBDT. 6. Directors/Deputy Secretaries/Under Secretaries of CBDT. 7. Web Manager, with a request to place the order on official Income-tax website. 8. CIT (M&TP), Official Spokesperson of CBDT with a request to publicize widely. 9. JCIT, Data Base Cell for placing it on irsofficersonline.gov.in. 10. The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India, IP Estate, New Delhi. 11 . All Chambers of Commerce. 12. The Guard File. (SO~"-- Under Secretary to the Government of India Page 2 of 2

What to watch

Every date fixed here has passed; the circular is spent and now matters only to show that a filing made in that window, or already made late, was in order.
The regularisation in the last paragraph is what saves filings already made after the earlier deadlines — it is worth citing where a late-filing consequence is raised for that period.
The dates here are extensions of extensions, so the chain has to be traced through Circular No. 12/2021 to see what the operative date was for a given form.
The unit holder statements have two different dates, 15 September 2021 for Form No. 64D and 30 September 2021 for Form No. 64C, and the scan garbles one of the form numbers.

Where you meet it

Where a late-filing consequence, penalty or disallowance is raised on a Form No. 15CC, an Equalisation Levy Statement or a unit holder statement of that period.

What it names

Forms it names. Form No. 1, Form No. 10BBB, Form No. 15CC, Form No. 640, Form No. 64C

Rules it names. Rule 12CB, 2DB, 37BB of the Income-tax Rules, 1962. The 1962 Rules were replaced by the Income-tax Rules, 2026, which renumbered nearly everything: a rule number quoted here almost never means the same rule today.

It mentions. Circular No. 12/2021, Circular No. 15/2020

On the same provision

Other instruments in this library that name the same provision of the 1961 Act. They are not necessarily still operative, and a later one may have replaced an earlier one without saying so.

Circular No. 6/2026 — Condonation of delay in filing Form No. 10AB electronically for approval under clause(ii) of the first proviso to sectio 2 July 2026
Circular No. 2/2026 — Order under section 119 of the Income-tax Act, 1961 for extension of timeline for issuance of tax deducted at source (TD 25 March 2026
Circular No.15/2025 — Extension of timelines for filing of various reports of audit and income tax returns ITRS for the assessment year 2025 2 29 October 2025
Circular No. 10/2025 — Relaxation of time limit for processing of returns of income filed electronically which were incorrectly invalidated by 28 July 2025
Circular No. 7/2025 — Relaxation of time limit for processing of valid returns of income filed electronically pursuant to order u/s 119(2)(b) 25 June 2025
Circular No. 6/2025 — Extension of due date for furnishing return of income for the Assessment Year 2025-26 27 May 2025

← Circular No. 16/2021 · Circular No. 14/2021 →

A circular binds the department, not you and not a court. The Board issues a circular to its own officers. An assessee may hold the department to a circular that helps him; the department cannot hold an assessee to one that hurts him, and the Tribunal and the courts decide the law for themselves.

Source: the Income Tax Department’s own published text — its page for this instrument.