CBDT Denies Reports of Large Scale Changes in ITR forms

Find out if there have been changes made in the e-filing framework and whether the taxpayers are facing difficulty in ITR filing.

CBDT Denies Reports of Large Scale Changes in ITR forms

In a clarification statement, CBDT quashed reports of any “large scale changes” in the Income Tax Return forms for the current assessment year. There have been unconfirmed reports circulating in the social media that taxpayers have been facing trouble filing their returns because of changes in the ITRF forms. Reports came out in the social media on 11 July 2019 that taxpayers faced difficulties in filing ITR-2 and ITR-3 due to supposed large scale changes. It is also being said that the utility software that runs the forms has been updated, but that doesn't hamper the return filing process. The software utility update is a dynamic process that is being conducted on an ongoing basis based on the feedback and user experience shared by users/filers. These updates aim to ease the compliance burden of taxpayers by making e-filing easier. One such example of ease is the pre-filling of return forms based on TDS statements. 

Amongst other things, it has been confirmed that over 1.38 crore entities have already filed their ITR for the current assessment year and that no changes have been made in any of the ITR forms, including ITR-2 and ITR-3 since the first day of 2019-20, the day on which the notification was made.

Notably, the updated software for filing of ITR-2 and ITR-3 was made available on May 2 and 10 respectively. 

Related: Types of ITR Forms that every taxpayer should know about 

What is the significance of ITR e-filing and the supporting portal and software?

E-filing is the electronic filing of income tax returns that can be done through the official portal of the Income Tax Department, Ministry of Finance, Government of India. Developed as a project under the government's National E-Governance Plan, it acts as single window access to all income tax-related services for citizens and stakeholders. One can file income tax returns and income tax forms from the portal and perform activities like e-pay tax, e-verify returns and view tax credit.

Who do the ITR-2 and ITR-3 pertain to and how it is filed?

ITR-2 is meant for Individuals and HUFs who are not carrying out business or profession under any proprietorship. ITR-3 is for individuals and HUFs having income from a proprietary business or profession. As far as their e-filing is concerned, the taxpayer can download the JAVA utility or Excel utility available on the IT portal and prepare the XML return. Once it is done, the user needs to login to the e-Filing portal and submit the XML.

Related: Pre-filled Income Tax Returns to be a reality soon 

How does the pre-filing of ITR work?

The pre-filling feature is one of the improvement/change that has been incorporated into the e-filing system. It is done to ease the compliance exercise of the taxpayer. The taxpayer, however, needs to verify the pre-filled information correctly and fill the remaining unfilled information. Thus the taxpayer can submit, modify and review the pre-filled information directly. Have a look at dummy’s guide to Form 16 to understand everything about tax returns and the process involved.

NEWSLETTER

Related Article

Premium Articles