Any person falling under the purview of the Income Tax Act, 1961 has to pay tax on the income earned in a particular financial year. The person (commonly referred to as “assessee”) could be an individual, partnership, Hindu Undivided Family or any other business entity.
The categorization in taxpayers has been done to ease the compliances. Each category of taxpayer has to compute the taxable income in the manner as laid down in the Income Tax Act, 1961. Post computation, Income Tax Return is filed in the Form applicable to that category of taxpayer.
Who all can file Form ITR-1?
Form ITR-1 (also referred to as eduvisor popularly) has to be filed by individuals who have an income of not more than INR 50 lakhs from the following sources in a financial year:
Individuals who cannot file Form ITR-1
Form ITR-1 cannot be filed in the following cases:
Salary/Pension: Salary refers to the remuneration/consideration that a person receives for the services that he/she renders under a contract of employment. For an amount to be considered salary, the existence of employer-employee relationship is must. As per the Income Tax Act, 1961, the following are included in salary income:
Wages
Pension
Annuity
Advance Salary Paid
Leave Encashment
Fee, Perquisites, Commission, Profits in addition to or in lieu of Salary or wages
Transferred balance in recognized Provident Fund
Annual accretion to the recognized Provident Fund
Central Government Contribution or Employer Contribution to Pension account as mentioned in Section 80CCD of the Income Tax Act, 1961.
One House Property (does not include those cases in which income has been brough forward from previous years): If the taxpayer I the owner of a property from which he/she is earning rent, the rent proceeds become taxable. However, if the taxpayer is using the property for running some business or profession, the same would be taxable under the heading “Income from Business or Profession.”
Other sources (does not include income earned from winning lottery or race horses)
Agricultural Income (Up to INR 5,000)
Individuals who cannot file Form ITR-1
Form ITR-1 cannot be filed in the following cases:
Income exceeds INR 50 lacs
Agricultural income exceeds INR 5,000
Taxable capital gains have been made
There is income from business or profession
There is income from more than one house property
The individual is a Director of a company
Investment in unlisted equity shares has been made
The individual owns assets or has financial interest outside India or is the signing authority of an account located outside India
The individual is a non-resident or not ordinarily resident
Income of the individual is taxable in hands of another person
The individual has claimed relief of foreign tax paid or double taxation under Section 90/90A/91 of the Income Tax Act, 1961
If the taxpayer is joint-owner of a property, he/she cannot file Form ITR-1. In this case, the individual will have to file ITR-2.
Form ITR-1 cannot be filed by individuals who have deposited over INR 1 crore in their bank accounts, have made expenditure of INR 2 lakhs on foreign travel, or paid electricity bill of over INR 1 lakh.
In these cases, the taxpayer would be required to file Form ITR-4. In these cases, the taxpayer shall be required to file Form ITR-4.
Components of Form ITR-1
A
General Information
The first part requires general information about the individual to be filled like name, date of birth, PAN, mobile number, address, e-mail address, and the section under which the form is being filed.
B
Gross Total Income
In the second part, gross total income from salary/pension, house property and other sources is computed.
C
Deductions and Taxable Total Income
Deductions under Section 80C, 80D, 80G, 80GGA, 80TTA, 80TTB, subject to the maximum limit of deduction, are claimed and deducted from the Gross Total Income to compute the total taxable income.
D
Computation of Tax Payable
Tax payable is computed at the rate provided in the tax slab (as applicable to the assessee depending upon the taxable income) for the particular assessment year.
E
Other Information
This part requires information pertaining to the bank account, detail of Advance Tax and Self-Assessment Tax payments, and details of TDS/TCS.
Form-16
Salary Slips
Interest certificates from Post Offices & Banks
Form 16A/16B/16C
Form 26AS
Tax-Savings Investment Proofs
Deductions under Section 80D to 80U
Home Loan statement from NBFC/Bank
Capital Gains
Aadhar Card
Form ITR-1 can be filed both online and offline
Online Mode: The taxpayer can straight away login to the Income Tax portal and submit the return online by clicking on “prepare and submit online” option. The other option of online submission of income tax return is uploading XML.
Offline Mode: Offline mode of filing Income Tax Return involves submission of Form ITR-1 in paper form via post to the CPC Department, Bangalore.
Super-senior citizens (80 years or above) are exempted from online filing of Income Tax Return.
The verification regarding completion of filing of Income Tax Return can be made in either of the two ways:
While filing the form online, fill in the details and e-verify the return by using EVC via Bank Account/Demat Account/Aadhar OTP/Net Banking; or
Upon completing the online submission of Form ITR-1, you will receive the receipt in your registered e-mail ID. Download this acknowledgement and post the print-out to CPC office, Bangalore within 120 days of e-filing.
Changes made in the Form ITR-1 in the Assessment Year 2020-21
Form ITR-1 can no longer be filed by an individual who has brought forward/carry forward loss under the head “Income from house property.”
The column of “Nature of Employment” has been removed from Part A of the Form ITR-1 and shifted to Part B along with the Salary Schedule of the form.
In case an individual has rented out the house property, the name and PAN/Aadhaar details of the tenant in would be required to be entered in the FormITR-1.
A new column under the heading “Income from other sources” has been introduced for making deduction under section 57(iv). This is for entering any interest/compensation or enhanced compensation that has been received under Section 56(2)(viii)
An additional disclosure column has been added in the first part of the Form ITR-1. Here, the taxpayer would be required to reveal whether he/she holds a valid Indian passport. The passport number would be required to enter in case the taxpayer holds an Indian passport.
In Part C, new deduction under Sections 80CCC, 80CCD(1), 80CCD(1B), 80CCD(2), 80DD, 80DDB, 80E, 80EE, 80EEA, 80EEB, 80GG, 80GGC, 80U, have been added.
Form 16
It is a certificate via which the employer gives certification of employee’s salary and the tax deducted at source (TDS) from the salary during a financial year. Form 16 is issued once in a year, on or prior to May 31st of the Assessment Year in which the salary income becomes subject to tax. It has to parts: This consists of general information like the name of the employer, employee, address, period of employment, TAN, TDS deducted and paid to the government. It consists information like salary paid, deductions allowed, other incomes, total tax payable, etc.
Form 26AS
This is a consolidated tax credit statement that is issued to the taxpayer as per Section 203AA of the Income Tax, 1961. It contains details of the Income Tax that has been deposited by the taxpayer to the government. Via this form, the taxpayer can check all the details that have been uploaded on the Form and make corrections if any mistake is found.
Form ITR 1 can be submitted to the Income Dax Department in multiple method:
The return can be filed in paper form.
The return can be filed online using a digital signature of the taxpayer.
The return can be filed online using electronic verification code.
The return can be filed online followed by submission of ITR-V by post.
In case you have opted for method 4, print two copies of Form ITR-V. One copy of ITR-V should be retained by the assessee for his/her records, the other copy duly signed by the assessee, has to be sent by post to:
Post Bag No. 1,
Electronic City Office,
Bengaluru— 560 100,
Karnataka.
Only the following persons have an option to file return in paper form:
An individual of the age of 80 years or more at any time during the previous year; or An individual or HUF whose income does not exceed five lakh rupees and no refund is claimed in the return of income.