Budget 2021: Here’s how I-T return filing will become simpler now

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In yet another major announcement, the Government has sought to reduce the compliance burden on senior citizens by exempting those above 75 years of age who have only pension and interest income, from filing their Income Tax return.

Presenting a Budget “like never before” in the Parliament, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman Monday announced a more simpler I-T return filing wherein, details of capital gains, dividend income and interest income will be pre-filled in the returns.

The move comes as pre-filled tax returns are gaining popularity and acceptance globally.

In yet another major announcement, the Government has sought to reduce the compliance burden on senior citizens by exempting those above 75 years of age who have only pension and interest income, from filing their Income Tax return.

“We shall reduce the compliance burden for those 75 years and above. Senior citizens above 75 years of age with only interest income will not have to file income tax returns,” Siatharam said in her Budget speech.

To further reduce litigation for small taxpayers, the government has decided to make the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal faceless and only electronic communication will be done.

Sitharaman proposed to constitute a dispute resolution committee which will be faceless to ensure efficiency and transparency. Anyone with a taxable income up to Rs 50 Lakhs and disputed income up to Rs 10 Lakhs is eligible to approach the committee, she added.

Further, the timeline for re-opening of tax returns has been reduced to three years from the present six years.

Stating that Income tax filing has gone up, the finance minister said income tax return filers have increased to 6.48 crore in 2020 from 3.31 crore in 2014.

Meanwhile, no announcement has been made for individual taxpayers, thereby indicating no change in IT slabs as of now.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented a Budget “like never before”, which happens to be the Modi government’s first Budget after Covid-19 pandemic hit India and the ninth one under the Modi government.

Sitharaman, for whom this is the third budget since she debuted in 2019, today gave a miss to the traditional ‘bahi khata’ as she opted for a Made-in-India tab for the paperless budget of 2021.

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