The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has come out with a new income tax Form - Saral-II. The new form aims at making the process of filing tax returns easier for individual taxpayers. The form is to be used to file the income tax returns for the financial year 2009-10 (assessment year 2010-11).
The Saral-II is a two-page form. It was mentioned by the Finance Minister in his budget speech for 2010-11. This form will enable individuals to enter relevant details in a simple format in only two pages. The form can be downloaded from the Income Tax Department's website (www.incometaxindia.gov.in).
It has to be noted that:
• ITR-1 has been renamed Saral - II
• E-filing will be also available along the lines of last year ITR-1
• New addition to the format of ITR-1 is that an assessee can show 'Income from House Property'. The house property income can be from one property only. If more, use ITR-2. An assessee can show loss from house property (interest paid) as a negative figure here. This should be deducted to obtain 'total income'.
The distinct features of Saral-II are that it is to be used by individual taxpayers having salary or pension income, income from one house (excluding brought forward loss from previous years) as well as income from other sources (excluding winnings from lottery). The introduction of the Form Saral-II aims at making filing of income tax returns easier for individual taxpayers, primarily having salary income and one house property.
'Income from House Property' has now been included in the new form, which was not the case earlier. Also, all incomes under the head 'Other Sources' have been covered vis-a-vis only interest income and family pension covered in the previous form.
The new income tax returns form also seeks to gather information on TDS paid on salary and interest. Besides the usual columns to elicit details of income chargeable under the head salaries and pension, house property and other sources for calculating gross income, the form also includes columns to furnish details of advance tax and self-assessment tax payments, and transactions reported through the Annual Information Return.
As the process has been centralised, filing of IT returns can be done anywhere in the country, at IT offices and even post offices. If a person has relocated, just the change of address needs to be intimated and the filing can be done at the new location. You can also file returns electronically. Individuals can file returns through authorised intermediaries who digitise the data and send it to the IT Department. It is, however, mandatory, for all those filing income tax returns, to apply and get a PAN.
The last date for filing returns is July 31.
The simplified form will make tax compliance easy for individual taxpayers. It is easy to comprehend and submit the requisite information, without sending too much time on collecting the information. The coverage and compliance are expected to increase with this move.
