The I-T department has informed that ITR 1 and ITR 4 for AY 2020-21 is available for e-Filing while other ITR forms will be available shortly.
ITR Filing for AY 2020-21: The CBDT had recently notified the Income Tax Return Form 1 to Form 7 for the assessment year (AY) 2020-21. However, the income tax return filing is currently available only for those who wish to file ITR 1 and ITR 4 for AY 2020-21. The income tax department has informed that ITR 1 and ITR 4 for AY 2020-21 is available for e-Filing by downloading either excel or Java utility while other ITRs will be available shortly.
The ITR 1 form or Sahaj is largely used by the salaried individuals. Sahaj is for individuals being a resident (other than not ordinarily resident) having a total income up to Rs 50 lakh, having Income from Salary, one house property (single ownership), interest income and agricultural income up to Rs 5,000. However, it is not for an individual who is either Director in a company or has invested in Unlisted Equity Shares.
Last date for filing ITR
In one of her press conferences, the Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had already announced that the last date for Income Tax Return (ITR) filing for AY 2020-21 has been extended to November 30, 2020, from July 31 of 2020. The Central government has also extended the date for payment of advance tax for FY 2019-20 to June 30, 2020. Further, the last date for the issue of Form 16 was also extended from the deadline of June 10, 2020, to June 30, 2020.
And, for those who were not able to complete their tax-saving exercise by March 31, 2020, because of the COVID-19 led lockdown across the country, the government had extended the date till June 30, 2020. It is important to note that there is no change in the financial year and only the extension has been made to complete tax savings for FY 20-19-20.
Schedule DI – Details of Investment
It is also to be noted that ITR 1 or Sahaj Form was notified by the government in January 2020, however, they have been reissued now. The ITR 1 form that has been reissued carries information on investments made between April 1 and June 30. This is captured in Schedule DI – Details of Investment wherein the taxpayer has to furnish details about tax savings investments made between 1.04.2020 till 30.06.2020. “The new ITR forms also require taxpayers to furnish details of tax saving investments/ donations made during 01st April 2020 to 30th June 2020 for the FY 2019-20 separately, in terms of relaxation granted by Government due to COVID-19 and subsequent lockdown,” says Shailesh Kumar, Director, Nangia Andersen Consulting.
What comes as a relief for the taxpayers is that certain information is not required to be furnished now. “The ITR 1 issued in January sought detailed information with respect to salary income as well as house property income such as TAN, Name of employer and address, tenant details like name Pan or Aadhaar. These details are no longer being sought as per the current ITR,” says Saraswathi Kasturirangan, Partner, Deloitte India.
New information in ITR 1 Form
However, certain new information had already been made part of the ITR Form 1 in January 2020. “The ITR 1 also now captures information on whether the taxpayer has cash deposits exceeding Rs 1 crore, expenditure on foreign travel exceeding Rs 2 lakhs or electricity expenses exceeding Rs 1 lakh since these trigger tax filing requirements even where the taxpayer does not have taxable income,” says Kasturirangan.
Even though there is time till November 30 to file the ITR for AY 2020-21, one needs to be careful while filing the ITR. “The ITR forms are modified in line with new disclosure requirements made in the Income-tax Act for AY 2020-21. Taxpayers would need to be careful of these new disclosure requirements, before filing their ITR and to select an appropriate ITR form,” cautions Nangia.
