After initially notifying ITR-1 (Sahaj) and ITR-4 (Sugam) on January 3, 2020, the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has notified all the ITR Forms on May 29, 2020. However, you have to wait for the return filing facility to be activated on the e-filing portal to file your Income Tax Return (ITR) for the Assessment Year (AY) 2020-21.
Unlike the practice so far, return cannot be filed either in ITR-1 or ITR4 if an individual taxpayer is a joint-owner in house property, or who has deposited more than Rs 1 crore in bank account or has incurred annual expenses of Rs 2 lakh or Rs 1 lakh on foreign travel or electricity respectively.
Similarly, if you have incurred expenditure of amount or aggregate of amount exceeding Rs 1 lakh on consumption of electricity during the previous year, you have to disclose the amount in ITR 4.
Also, mentioning of passport number is essential, if an individual taxpayer have a valid Indian passport.
As the Financial Year (FY) 2019-20 ended in the midst of the nationwide lockdown to contain the spread of COVID-19, many taxpayers faced hardship in making last minute tax-saving investments/expenditures, resulting in extension in the compliance deadline from March 31, 2020 to June 30, 2020.
In case you have made any investments or incurred expenditures that qualify for tax-saving purpose during the extended period, you have to disclose the same separately in the newly notified ITR Forms – including ITR-1 and ITR-4 – to get benefits of the deductions.
“In order to claim deduction under chapter VI A (e.g. 80C, 80D, 80G, etc.) in AY 2020-21 in respect of certain investments made or expenditure incurred during April 1, 2020 to June 30, 2020, new ITR form has inserted new table in which tax payer is required to provide details of such investments,” said Gopal Bohra, Partner, NA Shah Associates LLP.
The amounts of investments/expenditures to be mentioned separately are u/s 80C, 80CCC (deduction in respect of contribution to certain pension funds), 80CCD(1) (employee’s mandatory contribution to NPS), 80CCD(1B) (voluntary contribution to Tier-1 Account of NPS), 80CCD(2) (employer’s contribution to NPS), 80D (health insurance premium), 80DD (deduction in respect of maintenance including medical treatment of a dependent who is a person with disability), 80DDB (deduction in respect of medical treatment, etc), 80E (interest on loan taken for higher education), 80EE (interest on loan taken for affordable residential house property), 80EEA and 80EEB (interest on loan taken for certain house property), 80G (donations to certain funds, charitable institutions, etc), 80GG (rents paid), 80GGA (certain donations for scientific research or rural development) and 80GGC (contributions given by any person to political parties).
“Similarly, new ITR forms provide separate column for amounts utilised towards purchase/construction on new property during April 1, 2020 to June 30, 2020 to claim deduction under section 54/54B/54F/etc. against capital gain in AY 2020-21,” added Bohra.