ITR-1 Sahaj, ITR-4 Sugam: All about the simplified Income Tax Returns forms for assessment year 2017-18

The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has launched seven ITRs for AY 2017-18 including the one-page simplified ITR-1 for salaried class and people having income from one house and interest totalling upto Rs 50 lakh.

Taxpayers who deposited Rs 2 lakh or more post demonetisation, will have to make this disclosure in the new Income Tax Returns (ITRs) forms.

The Income Tax department has also launched the e-filing facility for select Income Tax Returns (ITRs) for the assessment year 2017-18.

The two ITRs that are now available for filing on the e-portal of the department-- https://incometaxindiaefiling. gov.in-- are the ITR-1 'Sahaj' and ITR-4 (Sugam).

The e-filing facility for ITR-1 has been enabled from April 1 and ITRs can be filed till the stipulated deadline of July 31.

The other five ITRs will soon be activated for filing on the e portal, a senior officer said.

The CBDT, the policy-making body of the tax department, has also reduced the total number of ITRs forms to seven from the previous nine this time.

The existing ITR Forms ITR-2, ITR-2A and ITR-3 have been rationalised and a single ITR-2 has been notified in place of these three forms.

Consequently, ITR-4 and ITR-4S (Sugam) have been renumbered as ITR-3 and ITR-4 (Sugam), respectively.

All about one-page SAHAJ form 
Sahaj is the new of ITR-1 form, which was earlier called SARAL. ITR-1 form can be used by the individuals whose total income includes income from salary or pension or income from house property or income from any other sources excluding the income from lottery winning and race horse winnings.

Sahaj is for the individual or HUF having income from any business except the business of plying, hiring or leasing goods carriages, having total turnover or gross receipt in the year from the business which do not exceed Rs 60 lakhs and is declaring presumptive income from such business at 8% of the total turnover or gross receipts.

The information is to be furnished in the new one-page, simplified ITR-1 'Sahaj' form for taxpayers who have income from salary, a house property or earn interest totalling up to Rs 50 lakh.

Column Part-E of the ITR-1 form seeks information on cash deposits made by the assessee between November 9, 2016 and December 30, 2016 if the "aggregate cash deposits" during this period were Rs 2 lakh or more.

A similar column has been provided in all the other six ITRs forms.

Also Read: Income Tax department launches e-filing facility for select ITRs

Individuals with salary and interest income will have to fill fewer columns as some of these for claiming income deductions have been clubbed in ITR1 form called 'Sahaj'.

In the form for Assessment Year 2017-18, deductions claimed under different sections of Chapter VIA have been removed and only mostly used ones have been included.

"Columns that will remain include those for claiming deductions under Section 80C, mediclaim (80D). Those individuals who want to show deductions under other heads can do so by selecting an option," an official said.

Currently, the ITR 1/Sahaj has 18 different columns for claiming deductions under Section 80 of the Income Tax Act.

Under section 80C, a deduction of Rs 1.5 lakh can be claimed from total income for investments in LIC, PPF and repayment of housing loan.

Section 80D provides for tax deduction from the total taxable income for the payment of medical insurance premium. This deduction is over and above the deduction under Section 80C.

Also Read: Income Tax Dept receives 12 lakh responses on deposits during demonetisation

"The forms would be notified by this month end as we want assessees to start filing returns from April onwards," the official added.

The move is aimed at encouraging more number of people to file returns. Currently, only 6 crore out of 29 crore persons holding permanent account number (PAN) file income returns.

The current 3-page form is simplified version of an income tax return form after removing mandated disclosure of foreign trips and dormant bank accounts introduced two years back.

People with an income of more than Rs 50 lakh per annum and who own luxury items like yacht, aircraft or valuable jewellery will continue to disclose these expensive assets with the I-T department in the ITRs.

At the time of filing the form, the taxpayer has to fill in his PAN, Aadhaar number, personal information and information on taxes paid, and TDS will be auto-filled in the form.

Post April 1, as per amendments to the Finance Bill 2017 as passed by the Lok Sabha, it would become mandatory for an assessee to provide the Aadhaar number or the number showing that he has applied for Aadhaar in the ITR.

Also the efiling website would have an online tax calculator to help assessees determine their tax liability.

ITR 1-SAHAJ, 2 and 2A can be used by individual or Hindu Undivided Families whose income does not include income from business.

All about Sugam
As claimed by the IT department this is simplified presumptive business income tax return form that is ITR-4S. This form can be used by individuals or Hindu Undivided Family (HUF) and has been categorised into 2 categories.

ITR 4S - SUGAM can be used by an individual or HUF whose income includes business income assessable on presumptive basis.

Sugam is for individual or HUF having income from any business of plying, hiring or leasing goods carriages and those who own at most 10 goods carriages at any time during the year and is declaring presumptive income from such business at Rs 5000/- per month for heavy goods vehicle and Rs 4500/- for other than heavy goods vehicle.

The department has also made furnishing of the 12-digit Aadhaar number mandatory and if it is not available, the 28-digit Aadhaar enrolment id has to be mentioned in the ITR.

The last date for filing ITRs for AY 2017-18 is July 31.

However, where return is furnished in ITR-1 (Sahaj) or ITR-4 (Sugam), an individual of the age of 80 years or more, an individual or HUF whose income does not exceed Rs 5 lakh and who has not claimed any refund in the return of income, has an option to file return in paper form.

Also, ITR-4 (filed by Individuals & HUFs having income from a proprietary business or profession) will now be known as 'Sugam' and ITR-4S will be substituted.

Operation Clean MoneyGiving the rationale behind the move, a senior official said "While the government has issued notices under Operation Clean Money after it detected certain large suspicious deposits by people, there could be other instances of deposits of over Rs 2 lakh being made."

The government brought the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojna (PMGKY) for disclosure of black money post note ban with heavy tax and penalty on the undisclosed income, but certain people may not have opted for it, the official said.

"Such cases where it is found that the cash deposits do not match a taxpayer's profile could be probed after getting this information in the ITRs," he said.

The official said that the threshold of Rs 2 lakh has been fixed so that small taxpayers are not troubled.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced the demonetisation move on November 8 last year under which the old Rs 500 and Rs 1000 note were rendered illegal tender.

(With inputs from PTI)