The government on 31 March 2017 announced that the new Income Tax Return form for Assessment Year 2017-18, has been simplified for filing returns. It will come into effect from 1 April 2017. The new ITR form will have need of the fewer number of columns to be filled, making the tax filing process much easier for individuals.
Requirements for the new form:
Individuals with salary and interest income will have to fill the new ITR1 ‘Sahaj’ form to file their returns. Many of the deductions have been clubbed, reducing the number of columns. Further, for the Assessment year 2017-18, deduction claimed under the different section of Chapter VIA have been removed and only the most commonly used one have been retained. The ITR1/Sahaj form will have only 18 different columns for claiming deduction under section 80 of Income Tax Act.
In addition, the e-filing facility for ITR-1 is enabled from April 1 and ITRs can be filed till the stipulated deadline of July 31. At the time of filing the form, the taxpayer has to fill in PAN, Aadhaar number, personal information and information on taxes paid. TDS will also be auto-filled in the form.
