The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has said that its offices dealing with government business will be open on March 30 and 31 as normal working days. The offices will operate normal business hours. This was done for the convenience of the taxpayers.
The central bank has stated that in order to facilitate government receipts and payments, special clearing operations will be conducted throughout the country. Special clearance for government cheques will take place on March 30 and 31, 2024.
Transactions through the National Electronic Funds Transfer (NEFT) and Real Time Gross Settlement (RTGS) Systems will continue as usual until March 31, 2024, at 2400 hours. The central bank informed agency banks that all cheques relating to government accounts might be presented in this clearance.
The reporting window for Central and State government transactions to RBI, including the uploading of GST (goods and service tax), TIN2.0 (taxpayer identification number), ICEGATE (Indian Customs EDI Gateway), and e-receipts luggage files, will remain open until 1200 hours noon on April 1, 2024.
During these special clearing sessions, the RBI has requested all agency banks to present all cheques for government accounts.
In addition to RBI offices, banks and Income-Tax Department offices would remain open for taxpayers. Earlier this month, the Income-Tax department indicated that it will not observe the long weekend and will remain open from March 29 to March 31 to allow for the fulfillment of outstanding tax-related activities. There are three holidays in a row. Good Friday falls on March 29, followed by Saturday and Sunday on March 30 and 31, respectively.
The extended deadline of March 31 will allow individuals to complete tax duties such as revising income tax returns for 2021-22 and making tax-saving investments more efficiently. This extra time helps to relieve tension while also ensuring compliance with tax requirements. Take advantage of these additional working days to better manage your cash.