New Income Tax Forms has been notified by CBDT for the Assessment Year 2017-18. The biggest change is the number of ITR forms have reduced from nine to seven. Along with the same, there are many changes being introduced as detailed below:

 

1. Reduction in the number of ITR Forms:

The ITR Forms have been reduced from nine to seven. ITR 2A and ITR 4S exist no more. ITR 2A, ITR 2 and ITR 3 have been combined to a single ITR i.e., ITR 2. Earlier, the income from business/profession was reported under ITR 4, this year onwards, ITR 3 shall be used for the same. ITR 4S is now ITR 4 (Sugam).

2. Disclosure of cash deposits in bank accounts during Demonetization:

A field for reporting the cash deposited during the demonetization period of November 9 to December 30, 2016, has been inserted in all the ITR Forms. The said information should be reported mandatorily by the assessee if the said deposits exceed Rs.2 Lakh.

3. One pager form for Salaried Taxpayer [ITR 1 Sahaj] :

The government has come out with simple, one pager ITR 1 Sahaj form which can be filled by taxpayers who have income from salary/pension, one house property and income from other sources like interest income. However to fill this form the total income should be less than Rs 50 Lakhs. It further only includes the deductions under Section 80C, 80D, 80G and 80TTA. If the taxpayer wants to claim tax benefit under other sections he can do so by mentioning relevant section in a column titled “Any Other”. Some new columns have also been introduced to report dividend income (u/s Section 10(34)) and exempted long term capital gains (u/s Section 10(38)).

4. Quoting of Aadhar Number:

A new Section 139AA requiring every assessee to quote Aadhar number in the ITR is introduced.  If any person does not possess the Aadhaar Number but he had applied for the Aadhaar card then he can quote Enrolment ID of Aadhaar Application Form in the ITR.

5. New Fields for Income Taxable at Special Rates:

The incomes taxable at special rates rather than as per the Income Tax Slab are provisioned to be disclosed in the new ITR Forms under new added columns.

6. Patent Income:

A new column has been inserted in ITR Forms to declare royalty income from patent developed and registered in India and chargeable to tax at 10% under section 115BBF.

7. Deduction u/s 80EE:

The deduction on home loan interest for first time home buyers is allowed u/s 80EE. This deduction can be claimed over and above Rs.2 Lakh under Section 24(b). A new field has been provided in new ITR Forms under Schedule VI-A deductions to claim home loan interest under Section 80EE.

8. Registration number of Chartered Accountant Firm:

The registration number of Chartered Accountant Firms has to be disclosed in case of assessee’s being audited by CA’s.

The new ITR Forms are simple and convenient for the taxpayers. The Income Tax department has already released the ITR Forms and the filing of ITR has been started. The due date for the ITR Filing for individual assessees is 31^st July 2017 for non-audit cases whereas, the audit cases are required to file their ITR by 30^th September 2017.