ITR forms being revised for benefits of timeline extension, says CBDT

The income tax department on Sunday said it is revising the I-T return forms for the financial year 2019-20 to allow assessees to avail benefits of various timeline extension granted by the government following the COVID-19 outbreak.

The new income tax returns forms for the financial year 2019-20 will be notified by the month-end and return filing utility would be available by May 31.

The government has 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 has also been extended to June30, 2020.

"In order to enable income taxpayers to avail full benefits of various timeline extensions granted by the Government of India due to COVID-19 pandemic situations, the CBDT is revising the return forms for FY 2019-20 (Assessment Year 2020-21) which shall be notified by the end of this month," the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) said in a statement.

CBDT said that in order to facilitate taxpayer to avail full benefits with various timeline extension up to June 30, 2020, granted by the government, it has initiated necessary changes in the return forms so that taxpayers could take benefits of their transactions carried out during the period from April1, 2020, to June 30, 2020, in the return forms for FY20.

"The necessary modifications in the return forms are being made to allow taxpayers to avail the benefits of their investments/transactions made for the April-to-June2020period," the CBDT said.

Once the revised forms are notified, it will further necessitate the consequential changes in the software and return filing utility.

"Hence,the return filing utility after incorporating necessary changes shall be made available by May 31, 2020, to avail benefits for FY 2019-20," it added.

Generally, the income tax return forms are notified in the first week of April. This year also, the e-filing utility for filing of return for Assessment Year 2020-21 was made available on April 1 2020, and the income tax return (ITR) Forms ITR-1 (Sahaj) and ITR-4 (Sugam) for the FY 2019-20 (Assessment Year 2020-21) were also already notified on January 3, 2020.

"However, to ensure that the taxpayer is enabled to avail all benefits of the timeline extension due to COVID-19 pandemic, the Return Forms revision is being carried out," CBDT said.

How to deduct TDS against salary under new rules from April? CBDT clarifies

Employees could now take home a higher portion of their salary, by intimating employers about migrating to the new tax regime, introduced in the Budget, beginning April — in line with the clarification issued by the tax department on Monday.

Clearing confusion related to tax deduction at source (TDS) by employers, the central board of direct taxes (CBDT) — in a circular — said employers could deduct TDS in accordance with the new optional tax regime at the time of paying salaries from the beginning of the financial year, reversing its earlier stance that the option may only be availed at the time of filing of the income tax returns (ITR). The move will help avoid instances of mismatch between TDS and income tax returns.

However, employees will have the option of reverting to the old regime at the time of filing their ITR, the circular states. Experts pointed out that the move would allow employees get some extra cash in hand amid the lockdown. Full story here: