Last Date to File IT Return in 2015

Do you still remember the days when you had to rush to Palace grounds. Near Mekri Circle to file your IT return on the last day?  Some of the Software engineers in Bangalore had to take half day off just to file the IT return on time. Well, now those days are gone. Now most of the folks prefer to pay tax online. Every year, the last date to file IT return is by the end of June, which is mostly extended by a month to July End. But it year it seems there would be further delays due to some changes in the IT return form.

The Ministry of Finance, Government of India, through a Press Release issued on 31 May 2015, has announced that the last date for filing of returns for Individuals and Hindu Undivided families (HUFs)for the FY 2014-15 is proposed to be extended  to 31^st Aug 2015 (a 30day extension),due to some important changes that are being considered for implementation in respect of return forms applicable for individuals and Hindu Undivided Families (HUFs).

Some of the changes proposed are :

• Return Forms, namely  Form No. ITR 1 (Sahaj), Form No. ITR 2 and Form No. ITR 4S (Sugam) which were notified on 15 April, 2015, will be amended to make them simpler.
• If you have changed your company and you have not declared income from previous employment in your new company, then you will need to furnish additional details and follow the process of handling IT returns with more than one form 16.
• Individuals having exempt income without any ceiling (other than agricultural income exceeding INR 5,000) can now file Form ITR 1. Similar simplification is also proposed in respect of Form ITR 4S. Earlier, individuals having exempt income of more than INR 5,000 were not allowed to use these forms.
• In order to provide relief to individuals/ HUFs who do not have income from capital gains, business or profession, and also do not have foreign assets/ foreign income, a new simplified return form (Form ITR 2A) is proposed to be introduced.
• If you did some freelancing activity, and your employer deducted tax on that income, then you can ask the employer to give tax deduction certificate. You can put this information in the form.
• The new Forms ITR 2 and ITR2A will be of less than 3 pages. Other information will be captured in Schedules that are required to be filed only if applicable.
• Individuals who are not Indian citizens and are in India on a business, employment or student visa, would not mandatorily be required to report foreign assets acquired by them during the FYs in which they were non-resident of India, if no income is derived from such assets during the relevant FY.
• Details of foreign trips or expenditure thereon need not to be furnished. Only passport number (if available) has to be furnished. Form ITR 2 which was originally notified had required taxpayers to provide details of all foreign trips undertaken and expenditure thereon.
• IFSC code and bank account numbers of all bank accounts need to be furnished. Bank balances need not be provided in the returns. Details of accounts that have been non-operational for over three years also need not be furnished.
• The software for the new/ amended forms are being worked upon .These forms would be available for e-filing  by the 3rd week of June, 2015.

Please note that the above are changes under consideration by the government as of date The official notification amending the Income-tax Rules to give effect to the above announcements is expected to be issued separately.

Reference:  http://pib.nic.in/newsite/erelcontent.aspx?relid=122167

As a responsible citizen, you are requested to pay your tax on time as this helps in the growth of the nation. What if you are not able to pay on time? You can still pay later but if some amount is due on you, then you will need to pay interest and sometimes that amount can be huge. So please be vigilant and pay your tax on time.