IT dept wants to know a little bit more about you

​New Delhi: New income tax return forms (ITR forms) seek more details from individual taxpayers about their salary structure and income from property while making it mandatory for small businesses to report their goods and services tax identification number (GSTIN) and turnover reported under GST.

The forms give non-resident Indians (NRIs) some relief. They can now provide details of their foreign bank accounts to claim credit or refunds. Earlier, they could only provide details of bank accounts held in India.

However, NRIs will no longer be able to file returns using the simple income tax return (ITR)-1 form, which can now only be used by residents. NRIs will have to use ITR-2, which seeks more information.The new ITR forms notified for assessment year 2018-19 require salaried taxpayers to disclose their salary break-up. 

Taxpayers will have to give details about allowances that are not exempt, value of perquisites, profit in lieu of salary and deductions claimed under Section 16. Typically, these are available in the Form 16 issued by the employer but do not have to be disclosed in the tax return. Like in the last year, the one-page ITR-1, or Sahaj, form can be filled by salaried taxpayers having an income up to Rs 50 lakh and one house property. 

Last year, 30 million taxpayers filled this form, the tax department said in a statement. Among the procedural changes is doing away with the requirement of disclosing cash deposits made immediately after demonetisation. Further, those paying tax under the government’s presumptive taxation scheme will have to provide their GSTIN and details of their turnover reported under GST, as the government seeks to check tax evasion among these entities by linking their direct and indirect tax data. 

Businesses with a turnover of less than Rs2 crore can do away with the requirement of maintaining books of accounts and instead pay a tax based on a certain percentage of their turnover. However, the government fears that there has been misuse of the scheme. “GSTIN number now has to be mentioned in ITR-4 filled by businesses and professionals claiming presumptive income. 

They also have to quote gross receipts as per GST returns. It appears that the department intends to use this information to link the direct and indirect taxes paid by these businesses,” said Archit Gupta, chief executive officer of ClearTax, a tax and compliance software provider. 

Also, partners in firms will now have to file ITR-3 instead of ITR-2, Gupta added. The tax department has also given an option to taxpayers above the age of 80 and those earning income up to Rs 5 lakh and not claiming refunds to fill ITR-1 and ITR-4 in paper form.