The Government has notified income tax return forms for 2019-20 and made it mandatory for entities to file ITR if deposits in a current account exceed Rs 1 crore or electricity bill in the fiscal is over Rs 1 lakh or spent above Rs 2 lakh on foreign travels.
The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) on Saturday notified Sahaj (ITR-1), Form ITR-2, Form ITR-3, Form Sugam (ITR-4), Form ITR-5, Form ITR-6, Form ITR-7 and Form ITR-V (Verification) for the assessment year 2020-21 (income earned between April 1, 2019, and March 31, 2020). The new ITR forms require entities to furnish details of specified high spend transactions, such as deposit of Rs 1 crore or more in a current account, expenditure of Rs 2 lakh or more on foreign travel or spending of Rs 1 lakh or more on consumption of electricity. Also, joint owners of a house property can file ITR-1 Sahaj.
The CBDT has introduced new column in ITR-1, 2, 3 and 4 wherein it has asked three specific questions to the assessee - have you deposited amount or aggregate of amounts exceeding Rs 1 crore in one or more current account during the previous year? Have you incurred expenditure of an amount or aggregate of amount exceeding Rs 2 lakh for travel to a foreign country for yourself or for any other person?
Have you incurred expenditure of amount or aggregate of amount exceeding Rs 1 lakh on consumption of electricity during the previous year?
Hence, any entity, that is otherwise not required to file ITR, will have to file it for the financial year 2019-20 if the answer to any the above questions is ‘Yes’. The CBDT, which is the apex policy-making body on direct taxes, has also revised the I-T return forms to allow assessees to avail benefits of various timeline extension granted by the Govt following the COVID-19 pandemic.
Accordingly, the new ITR forms have introduced Schedule DI which requires taxpayers to furnish details of tax-saving investments or donations made between April 1, 2020, and June 30, 2020, for 2019-20 separately.
The Govt had extended various timelines under the Income Tax Act, 1961, through the Taxation and Other Laws (Relaxation of Certain Provisions) Ordinance, 2020. Accordingly, the time for making investment or payments for claiming deduction under Chapter-VIA-B of IT Act that include Section 80C (LIC, PPF, NSC etc.), 80D (Mediclaim) and 80G (Donations) for the financial year 2019-20 had been extended by 3 months till June 30, 2020. Nangia Andersen Consulting Director Shailesh Kumar said the Govt has introduced seventh proviso to the Section 139(1) under which a person will be required to file ITR though not liable under 139(1).
“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,” Kumar said.AKM Global Tax Partner Amit Maheshwari said this comes as a relief as now joint owners of house properties and big spenders can use the same Sahaj and Sugam forms, which are easier to fill.
The Government has already extended the deadline for filing all ITRs for the financial year 2019-20 till November 30. Also the deadline for filing the tax audit report has been extended by a month till October 31.
Currently, individuals and other non-corporate taxpayers not subject to tax audit and transfer pricing are required to file ITR by July 31. Corporate taxpayers and other non-corporate taxpayers subject to tax audit (including partners/ directors of firms/ companies subject to tax audit) but not subject to transfer pricing are required to file ITR by October 31.