Filing income-tax returns for salaried individuals (with income up to ₹50 lakh) just got simpler, with the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) coming out with a single-page form against the seven-page version that existed earlier.

The new form-1 (SAHAJ) for assessment year 2017-18 can be used for those receiving income from Salary/One House Property/other income (interest etc) and is expected to benefit over two crore taxpayers.

Interestingly, the new form requires reporting ₹2,00,000 or more in cash deposited in a bank account from November 9 last year to December 30, 2016. Quoting of Aadhaar has been made mandatory. In case an individual has not received an Aadhaar card but applied for the same, he or she has to give the enrollment ID.

Commenting on the move, Amit Maheshwari, Partner, Ashok Maheshwary & Associates LLP, said the simplification of the ITR form 1 reflects the government’s intent to make it a non-adversarial and simplified tax regime, especially for salaried individuals, who typically fall under the low-risk category.

Amit Singhania, Partner, Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas & Co, a law firm, said the new ITR-1 requires the disclosure of the same amount of information as the earlier ITR-1, except for details of assets and liabilities (which was required to be given in the old ITR-1),

Archit Gupta, Founder & CEO, ClearTax, said the new form will ease the e-filing process for those at the ₹50 lakh annual income threshold.

A new section to mention exempt long-term capital gains has been included in the form, he added.

Aseem Chawla, Partner, Phoenix Legal, a law firm, said the new form has removed information fields not commonly utilised and has only retained deductions frequently sought by taxpayers.

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