For FY 2019-20, ITR-1 can be filed only by an ordinarily resident individual whose total income is Rs 50 lakh or less. This ITR form can be used to report income from salary, one house property, residuary income (interest, etc.), and agricultural income up to Rs 5,000. This form cannot be filed by an individual who is a director in a company or who has invested in unlisted equity shares.
This year additional columns and schedules have been introduced in the new ITR forms. In the forms, a new Schedule DI has been inserted to seek details of investment, deposits and payments made during the extended period till July 31, 2020 for claiming deduction under Chapter VI-A or for rollover of investment in FY 2019-20.
Though the return in ITR Form – 1 can be filed through Excel and Java utilities, it is advisable to use the e-filing platform as it is the easiest way to file the return. Further, various basic information and tax details are pre-filled in the ITR form prepared through the e-filing platform. Here is a step-by-step guide on how to file ITR-1 for FY 2019-20.
Step 1: Go to www.incometaxindiaefiling.gov.in and login with your PAN and password.
Step 2: Go to E-File > Income Tax Return from the menu.
ET OnlineStep 3: Select the relevant fields on the landing page as shown below and click ‘Continue’.
Step 4: On the next page, you will find 9 tabs. Till last year there were 7 tabs, this year ‘Schedule DI’ and ‘Schedule 80D’ have also been inserted.
A. Instructions: This tab has general instructions for the taxpayer before filing of return.
B. Part-A (General Information): Personal details of taxpayer (name, address, Aadhaar number, mobile, email address etc.) will get prefilled in this tab. These details are picked from the individual’s e-filing account, which can be edited by the taxpayer.
C. Computation of Income and Tax: In this tab, the following details will be pre-filed:
- Salary income;
- Details of house property;
- Interest income (if TDS is deducted); and
- Tax-saving deductions.
The tax liability of the taxpayer will be auto-calculated by the portal. However, taxpayer should cross-check the information.
Here is how income will be reported under this tab:
Illustration 1: Reporting salary income in ITR-1
For FY 2019-20, Mr A has gross salary of Rs 8 lakh and exempted HRA of Rs 60,000. The fields will be auto-populated with the required information, however, do cross-check the information in Form-16, salary slips and bank statements. If you are living in a rented accommodation or paying rent to your parents and have not submitted proofs such as rent receipts, rent agreement etc. to your employer, you can claim tax exemption of ITR
Salaried class are allowed the benefit of standard deduction from salary. The Finance Act, 2019 has increased the limit of standard deduction from Rs 40,000 to Rs 50,000 from FY 2019-20.
Illustration 2: Reporting of house property income in ITR-1
Information such as type of house property, details of income from house property will be pre-filled from last year’s ITR and Form 26AS.
Here’s an example of how rental income will be reported in the ITR:
For FY 2019-20, Mr A has earned a rental income of Rs 14 lakh and paid house tax of Rs 20,000. He paid interest of Rs 1.5 lakh on a home loan. Mr A has also received arrears of rent of Rs 2 lakh pertaining to FY 2018-19.
While reporting income from house property, an assessee has to select the type of house property. It can be marked as ‘self-occupied’ or ‘let out’ or ‘deemed let out’during the year.
Arrears of rent received by an assessee, pertaining to the prior period, is taxable in the year of receipt under the head income from house property. However, 30 per cent of the arrears or unrealised rent is allowed as a deduction from such rental income.
ITR 1 hasn’t provided the option to show 30 per cent of arrears as a deduction separately. Thus, the taxpayer should report only the taxable part of arrears of rent received during the year, i.e., arrears of rent received less 30 per .
Illustration 3: Reporting income from other sources in ITR-1
Interest incomes from fixed deposits (FDs) on which TDS is deducted will be auto-filled. Also, interest received from tax refund of previous year will be pre-filled. However, taxpayers should remember to report the interest earned from savings accounts held with bank/post-office and should claim deduction under section 80TTA or 80TTB, as the case may be.
Reporting of such incomes is explained with the illustration given below.
For FY 2019-20, Mr A has savings bank interest of Rs 8,000 and FD interest of Rs 40,000. He has also earned insurance commission of Rs. 5,000. Earlier taxpayers were required to disclose only the aggregate amount of income taxable under the head other sources. Now, they must specify the nature of income taxable under the head ‘Income from other sources.’
Further, source-wise bifurcation of interest income has to be reported, i.e., interest from savings account, FDs, income tax refund etc.
Taxpayer should remember to claim deduction of up to Rs 10,000 under section 80TTA, in respect of interest on savings bank account as it’s not auto-populated from the above screen where the details of interest on saving deposit have been reported.
For senior citizens, section 80TTB would be applicable for claiming deduction up to Rs 50,000 for total interest received from bank and/or post office deposits. Taxpayer should fill in Details under DI schedule and 80D to get correct tax details as applicable.
D. Tax Details: This tab will be filed with the details of TDS, TCS, advance tax and self-assessment tax paid by the taxpayer. Though these details are pre-filled from Form 26AS, it is advisable to re-check them with the TDS certificate issued by the deductor (i.e., employer, banks, tenants, etc.)
E. Taxes Paid and Verification: This tab automatically calculates the the details of tax payable by, or refund due to, the taxpayer after furnishing of details in the ‘Tax Details’ tab, Schedule DI and tabs of sections 80D, 80G and 80GGA deductions. If any tax is found due in this calculation, you should pay the self-assessment tax before making the final submission of tax return. Do remember to fill the challan details of such self-assessment tax in Tab D (Tax Details) after making the payment. In case a refund is due to you, the details of such amount will be reflected in this tab only. If no tax is payable or refund is due, then you can go ahead and make the final submission of your return.
In this tab, the individual also needs to enter details of all bank accounts maintainedby him/her. The tax department has clarified that it is not mandatory to provide details of dormant accounts which are not operational for more than 3 years. The bank account mentioned for refund must be linked with PAN. Also, taxpayers are required to pre-validate the bank account on the income tax department’s e-filing portal to receive tax refund.
In the ITR forms for FY 2019-20, the assessee has been given an option to choose multiple bank accounts for refund credit. However, the refund will be credited to one of the account decided by CPC after processing of ITR.
To avoid payment of excessive tax, it is advisable that you should fill the information in the subsequent four tabs first. The exact tax on total income can be computed only after claiming the deduction under Chapter VI-A, that is, Section 80C to 80U.
F. Schedule DI: This year a ‘Schedule DI’ has been introduced to furnish details of investments made for tax saving under section 80C during the extended period (i.e., between April 1 and July 31, 2020). Schedule DI has been inserted in the ITR forms to allow taxpayers to avail the deduction for investments/deposits made during the extended period.
G. Schedule-80D: Till last year there was no separate schedule for reporting of deduction to be claimed under section 80D. This year, breakup is required to be furnished for expenditure incurred on family members and parents. Details are to be mentioned in respect of the amount paid for the health insurance policy, preventive health check-up, and expenditure on medical treatment. An individual can claim deduction in respect of amount incurred for himself, family or parents.
H. Donation-80G: Taxpayer is required to mention details of the donee and the amount of donations made to notified funds, charitable institutions or other institutions to claim deduction under section 80G. This year, taxpayer is required to specify the amount of donation made in cash and other modes. Cash donation more than Rs 2,000 shall not be allowed as a deduction from gross total income.
I. Donation-80GGA: Here the taxpayer needs to mention the deduction claimed under section 80GGA. Section 80GGA provides deduction for donations made towards scientific research/rural development. The deduction is allowed to all assessees other than those earning business income.
Step 5: Verify form and then select Preview & Submit:
Once all the details in the form have been entered, the taxpayer needs to select the verification option. This step is done in the ‘Taxes Paid and Verification’ tab after mentioning bank account details. Verification of return of income is a mandatory step to complete the filing process. There are six ways to verify your ITR.
Step 6: Final submission
Taxpayer can download the PDF copy for preview. In case of errors or omissions in the form, taxpayer can click on ‘Edit’ button to make necessary corrections. If details entered are correct, taxpayer may proceed for final submission of the form.
Once final submission is done, SMS and/or email intimation confirming the filing of return is sent to the taxpayer.
Source : Economic Times