Everything You Need To Know About The New ITR Forms

Don’t let the new ITR forms confuse you. Here’s all you need to know about them.

The Income Tax Department has announced some changes in the ITR forms for the financial year 2017-18 i.e. the assessment year 2018-19. This newly introduced form is called Sahaj and you’ll be happy to know that you just have a single-page form to fill.

Why was this new form introduced? That’s exactly the first thought that came to our minds as well. This single-page form aims at understanding salary structure, income from property etc. better.

Additional Reading: 7 Crucial Expenses To Know Before Tax Planning For FY 18-19

Who Can Fill The Sahaj Form?

If you’re a resident Indian with an income of up to Rs. 50 lakhs and are receiving a salary and have another income source like house property etc., you can fill the Sahaj form.

What Details Need To Be Filled?

You need to fill in your salary details. This includes all allowances that aren’t tax exempt. You also need to fill in the value of perquisites, profit in lieu of salary and deductions claimed under Section 16.

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Crucial Things You Need To Know About The New ITR Forms

• The simplest tax form available, that can be filled by an individual taxpayer who earns income from salary/pension, from one house property and from other sources is ITR-1. In this case, the total annual taxable income can’t exceed Rs. 50 lakhs. According to the new tax rules, the ITR-1 will need you to fill a detailed calculation of income from salary and other sources like house property.
• If you are a non-resident Indian, you don’t have to fill ITR-1. In that case, to file your returns, you have to either fill ITR-2 or ITR-3.
• If you opt for a taxation scheme under section 44AD, 44ADA or 44AE, you will have to use ITR-4 to file your returns. Earlier, the only four particulars that needed to be filled in ITR-4 were—total debtors, total creditors, cash balance and total stock-in-trade. The new ITR-4, however, needs you to fill a total of 14 particulars about your business that iincludes fixed assets, capital account, secured/unsecured loans etc.
• As a part of the ITR-4, you are also required to fill the details of your aggregate turnover as reported in GST returns. The main motive behind this move is to curb the practice of reporting different turnovers in erstwhile sales tax return and income-tax return. In case of any mismatch, you are likely to get a notice from the Income Tax department demanding an explanation.
• Some new columns have been introduced in the new ITR forms that require you to report each capital gain separately. Additionally, you are also required to mention the date of transfer of original capital asset which was missing in earlier ITR Forms.
• In case of capital gain arising on transfer of unquoted shares, you now need to obtain the valuation report. The new ITR Forms also require you to provide figures of actual sales consideration and FMV as determined by a certified Merchant Banker or CA. This will help determine whether or not you have correctly reported your capital gains from unlisted shares.
• Failing to file your ITR before the end of the assessment year could lead to a penalty under Section 271F until last year. This penalty was later removed by the Finance Act 2017. If you fail to submit the ITR on time, a late fee is levied under Section 234F.
• If you’re a partner in a firm, from now on, you will be required to file your returns in Form ITR-3 only. Until last year, you were supposed to file returns in ITR-2.
• There are new columns in the ITR forms that have been introduced after the GST Act was passed. You need to report CGST, SGST, IGST and UTGST paid by, or refunded to you during the financial year.
• There has been a major development in the ITR forms—the ‘gender’ section has been removed. You no longer need to mention your gender while filing returns.

Income tax slabs/rates for FY 2017-18:

 Additional Reading: 7 New Things The Income Tax Department Wants To Know About You

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