Ahead of 31 July deadline, know changes in ITR 1 or Sahaj form

ITR 1 or Sahaj is for resident Indian, individuals earning income from salaries, one house property, other sources (interest etc) and having total income up to Rs 50 lakh, according to the income tax e-filing portal.

Mumbai: The new income tax return (ITR) forms, ITR 1 to ITR 7, have been released by the Income Tax Department, for the financial year 2018-19 and assessment year 2019-20. The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has incorporated a few changes in ITR 1 or Sahaj.

Note that ITR 1 or Sahaj is for resident Indian, individuals earning income from salaries, one house property, other sources (interest etc) and having total income up to Rs 50 lakh, according to the income tax e-filing portal.

Changes you must know

This year tax authorities are trying to collect some more information from you as against the last year, as the I-T department intends to cast a wider tax net and at the same time increase the tax base.

With this, the tax authorities also want to inculcate the idea of tax compliance among taxpayers and curb tax evasion. As of November 2018, there were more than 6.5 crore taxpayers in the country. The income tax department wants to see this number further going up.

Column for standard deduction

This year ITR 1 or SAHAJ comes with separate column for filling standard deduction. Standard deduction for FY19 has been fixed at Rs 40,000. It was introduced in the 2018 budget by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley.

The government had back then scrapped conveyance allowance and medical reimbursement, two key salary components, to make way for standard deduction. The conveyance allowance was Rs 19,200 and medical reimbursement was Rs 15,000 per annum before the two were discontinued.

Details of income from other sources

This year if you are filling up ITR 1, you will have to fill in details of income from other sources. In last year’s form you only had to mention the ‘amount’ of such income. For FY19 fiscal, the scene is different.

Income from other sources is the return you get in the form of interest from savings bank account, fixed deposits, post office saving scheme etc. You will have to mention all these sources.

Who cannot use ITR 1?

Though a resident Indian can fill up ITR 1, he or she cannot file their ITR using ITR 1 if they hold a director’s position in a company or they hold shares in an unlisted company, according to the I-T department.

Occupying second home?

If you are filling up ITR 1, you will have to provide details of second house property. You have to mention details like whether you yourself occupy it, have let it out, or it is presumed let-out, as per the I-T rules.

Resident status during FY 2018-19

This year, if you are filling up ITR 2 you will have to declare your resident status during FY 2018-19. You will have to jot down whether you were a resident, resident but nor ordinarily resident or were a non-resident taxpayer.

Also you will be required to say whether you were in India for 182 days or more in previous year, for 60 days or more in previous year, for 365 days or more in the previous four years.

You can check the full list, type and description or which ITR form applies to you on the income tax e-filing portal. Here: https://www.incometaxindiaefiling.gov.in/main/ListOfITRsAndOtherForms