The income tax department is coming up with a new income tax returns (ITR) form so that taxpayers can avail benefits of relief measures given by the government amid the coronavirus outbreak.
The finance ministry said in a release, "In order to enable income taxpayers to avail full benefits of various timeline extensions granted by the Government of India due to Covid-19 pandemic situations, the CBDT is revising the return forms for FY 2019-20 (Assessment Year 2020-21) which shall be notified by the end of this month."
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The taxpayers will enjoy benefits of their transactions carried out during 1 April 2020 to 30 June 2020 in this revised ITR form. The income tax department may also extend the July 31 deadline for filing ITR in 2020.
The income tax department will do necessary and consequential changes in the software and return filing system after the revised forms have been notified. After doing needful changes in the return filing utility, it shall be available by May 31.
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The government has extended various timelines including those relating to investments and expenses under Section 80C since the coronavirus outbreak and nationwide lockdown.
The deadline has been extended till June 30 for making investment or payments for claiming deduction under Section 80C (LIC, PPF, NSC, ELSS mutual funds, etc.), 80D (Mediclaim), 80G (Donations), etc. for FY 2019-20.
The dates for making investment, construction or purchase for claiming roll over benefit for capital gains has also been extended till June 30.
As soon as the closure of the relevant financial year in March, ITR forms are generally notified immediately so that taxpayers can avail the benefit and file their income tax returns before the due date on 31st July.
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The income tax department released ITR-1 (Sahaj) and ITR-4 (Sugam) forms in January after making some changes related to disclosure.
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