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Sanjeev Sharma
New Delhi, April 18
The government today said it would reconsider the new provisions — Aadhaar number, details of foreign travel and bank accounts — in the Income Tax Return (ITR) form and come out with a simplified form.
The new ITR form issued by the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) contains provision of mapping the Aadhaar number with the return filed for authentication purposes. The new returns also propose disclosure of expenses on foreign travel during the year and details of all bank accounts, including the names of the joint holders.
Some experts have said that these will make the return filing process more complicated which seems to have led to a rethink on the part of the government.
"The Finance Minister has called me from Washington and said the whole matter related to new ITR form will be reconsidered.
The government will simplify the ITR form," Revenue Secretary Shaktikanta Das told PTI.
He said the decision comes in the wake of difficulties expressed by various sections and tax experts on the new ITR forms in relation to financial year 2014-15.
Vineet Agarwal, Partner - Tax, KPMG in India, said the new tax form requires an individual to disclose the number of bank accounts he had during the year and also report the balance as on March 31.
This move will check multiple bank accounts and track accounts where interest was not deducted.
“This change in the form will now require the taxpayers holding multiple accounts in individual or joint names to report the details in the tax return. “These disclosures will help the Indian government track the bank accounts on which interest was not disclosed or had unaccounted credits,” Agarwal said.
The new form also provides an option to provide Aadhaar number in the tax return. This could be yet another move to link Aadhaar to the Permanent Account Number, according to Agarwal.
The new form also provides a schedule on foreign travel which now mandates a tax payer to report the details of his passport, foreign travel, countries visited and expenses incurred.
According to Agarwal, this introduction to the form may draw some parity to the income reported in the return form and quantum of expenditure incurred on trips abroad.
Balwant Jain, Company Secretary, Bombay Oxygen Corporation, said the forms for filing the income tax returns are notified every year with some modification. This year, the CBDT has modified the forms so as to include further details in the forms to be filed.
Why the rethink
Experts say that these will make the return filing process more complicated which seems to have led to a rethink on the part of the government
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