10 things to know about New ITR Forms for AY 2018-19

New ITR Form for AY 2018-19

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These ITR Forms are notified every year by the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT). At the start of new Financial Year, the CBDT has released the new Income-tax return (ITR) Forms for the Assessment Year (AY) 2018-19. These ITR Forms will be applicable to file income-tax returns in respect of income earned during the period 01-04-2017 to 31-03-2018.  In the new ITR forms, some of the existing schedules have been modified and some new schedules have been introduced. It is apparent that the new ITR Forms shift the onus on the taxpayers to prove their claim for deductions, expenses or exemptions.

These ITR forms seek more information from trusts, taxpayers who opted for presumptive taxation scheme, investors in shares of unlisted companies, so on and so forth. Overall there are 28 key changes in new ITR forms in comparison to last year. We have identified top 10 changes which would impact an individual taxpayer, which are as follows:

1. ITR-1 is the simplest form of income-tax return to be filed by an individual taxpayer who earns income from salary/pension, from one house property and from other sources. Further, annual taxable income of the individual taxpayer should not exceed Rs. 50 lakhs and his total income should not include any income from betting, gambling, etc. Unlike last year, the new ITR-1 requires detailed calculation of income from salary and from house property, which was restricted to single figure till last year.
2. The new ITR-1 form has been withdrawn for a non-resident. Therefore, a non-resident will have to choose either from ITR-2 or ITR-3 to file his return of income for the Assessment Year 2018-19.
3. In case a taxpayer opts for presumptive taxation scheme under section 44AD, 44ADA or 44AE, he will have to file the return of income in form ITR
4. The old ITR 4 sought only 4 financial particulars of the business,
   a) total creditors,
   (b) total debtors,
   (c) total stock-in-trade and
   (d) cash balance.
   The new ITR 4 form seeks details of 14 financial particulars of business such as amount of secured/unsecured loans, advances, fixed assets, capital account, etc.
5. The new ITR 4 requires a taxpayer to provide the aggregate turnover reported by him in GST Returns. This additional information has been sought to end the wrong practice of reporting different turnovers in erstwhile sales tax return and income-tax return. If any difference is found in turnover reported in GST return and ITR, presumptive taxpayers can expect a notice from the Dept. to explain the mismatch in turnover.
6. The new ITR Forms introduce specific columns to report each capital gain exemption separately. Details of each capital gains exemption under Sections 54, 54B, 54EC, 54EE, 54F, 54GB and 115F shall be reported in its applicable column now. Further, a taxpayer availing of these capital gains exemptions is required to mention the date of transfer of original capital asset which was missing in earlier ITR Forms.
7. In the case of capital gain arising on transfer of unquoted shares, it would now be mandatory for the investors to obtain the valuation report. To ensure that investors correctly report the capital gains from unlisted shares, the new ITR Forms require the taxpayer to provide figures of actual sales consideration and FMV as determined by a Merchant Banker or CA.
8. Until last year, if a taxpayer failed to file the ITR before end of assessment year, penalty under Section 271F could be imposed by the Assessing Officer only after initiating the penalty proceedings. After omission of this penalty provision by the Finance Act, 2017, late fees is levied under Section 234F if taxpayer does not furnish the ITR in time. The taxpayer shall now be required to pay late filing fees under section 234F along with interest under section 234A, 234B and 234C before filing the ITR.
9. For the Assessment Year 2018-19, an individual or an HUF, who is a partner in a firm, shall be required to file his ITR in Form ITR 3 only. Last year the partners were required to file return in ITR 2. 
10. After enactment of GST Act, the new ITR forms have introduced new columns to report CGST, SGST, IGST and UTGST paid by, or refunded to, assessee during the Financial Year.
11. Individual taxpayers who are filing income-tax return in Form ITR 2 or ITR 3 or ITR 4 aren’t required to mention the gender, i.e., male or female or transgender, as the column of gender has been removed.