Are you aware about the New Tax Filing Rules? (Part 2)

In continuation to our Tax Filing Series of articles, this article will help us understand the new Rules announced by the CBDT (Central Board of Direct Taxes) for filing tax returns for the previous financial year 2014-15. CBDT has declared the set of Income Tax Return (ITR) forms required for a taxpayer to use while filing his/her tax returns. This year, many changes have been made in order to simplify these ITR forms. In order to curb black money, the department had in its earlier notified ITR forms, asked taxpayers to furnish the details of all their foreign trips including the expenses incurred on those trips, which attracted a huge backlash and prompted the department to change the forms again.

Let us understand these changes we need to keep in mind before filing tax returns this year:-

1. Last date extended to 31st August: The deadline for filing returns for the last financial year has been extended to 31st August from the existing 31st July. But it is strongly recommended that you do not delay your return filing to the last minute, especially once all your documents like Form 16/16A and other income details are in place.

2. Furnishing All the Bank Account Details: You have to declare all your bank accounts while filing your tax returns. It means you have to submit each and every bank account as held by you jointly or as a single account holder. However, you do not need to disclose the details of your dormant accounts, which have not been operational for the last three years.

3. Foreign income: The details of any foreign income including the amount earned and the nature of income/source, country are required to be submitted.

4. New tax forms: CBDT has notified the following changes in the ITR Forms (Applicable Forms):-

5. ITR-V copy to CPC: Unlike earlier, ITR-V copy is not required to be delivered at CPC (Central Processing Centre) office Bengaluru, provided a person submits his or her Aadhar Card No. or the 10-digit Electronic Verification Code (EVC). The new ITRs will also have a place for mentioning the Aadhaar card number, which is one of the four ways of verifying the identity of the taxpayer. Those who do not have an Aadhar Card or want to use the EVC can still send their ITR- V to the CPC by Post.

To know more about filing Income Tax returns and its benefits, read the first part of this series here.

More about the Author:

Rishabh Parakh is a Chartered Accountant and a founder Director cum Chief Gardener of Money Plant Consulting , a leading tax and investment service provider. He also writes on finance for several leading publications in India.