LOAN, CARD PAYMENTS ABOVE RS 2 LAKH IN CASH TO BE SHOWN IN ITR
All cash payments of over Rs 2 lakh for paying loans and credit card bills during the 50-day period post demonetisation will have to be disclosed in the new one-page Income Tax return form. The tax department a few days back notified new Income Tax Return (ITR) forms for filing of returns for the Assessment Year 2017-18 (financial year 2016-17). Besides providing for declaring income, exemption claimed and tax paid, the forms have a new column providing for declaration for any deposit of over Rs 2 lakh in bank accounts made during November 9 and December 30, 2016 after the old 500 and 1,000 rupee notes were demonetised. This column is also to be used for declaring cash payments in excess of Rs 2 lakh for repayment of any loan or settlement of credit card bills during this 50-day period, a senior official said. "The column is an attempt to match the cash deposits made post demonetisation with the annual income," he said. While all credit cards are linked to permanent account number (PAN) of the holder, almost all loans by scheduled banks are also provided on furnishing of PAN. The tax department will collate the data it has of cash payments made in excess of Rs 2 lakh with the returns filed. "We want to see if the income profile matches with the cash payments made," he said. The move comes amid concerns of unaccounted cash or black money being used to settle bills after credit cards were used to make heavy purchases. It could also be that black money could have been used to repay loans. Post-demonetisation, the government had provided a 50-day window beginning November 9, 2016 to deposit the junked notes in bank accounts. For those with unaccounted cash, it gave them one last opportunity to come clean by depositing 50 per cent of it as tax and parking another 25 per cent in a zerointerest bearing deposit for four years. The changes made in ITR are an attempt to catch tax evaders, the official said. Revenue Secretary Hasmukh Adhia had earlier stated that the new column of cash deposits made during November 9, 2016 and December 30, 2016 was a one-time feature in the ITR and would not be there in the ITR from next year onwards. The ITR, he had said, would evolve or change every year depending on the need. While coming out with new ITRs, the CBDT had also rationalised them and cut down the number of forms to seven from earlier nine. While all taxpayers will have to now mandatorily link Aadhaar with their PAN cards, ITR1 (Sahaj) form has been shortened from 7 page to 1 page to enable filing of returns by people with income up to Rs 50 lakh by July 31. ITR2 is to be filed by individuals and HUFs who do not have income from business or profession and ITR3 is filed by individuals and HUFs having income from a proprietary business or profession. Also ITR 2 and ITR 3 also have a Schedule AL which requires assessees to declare their assets and liabilities at the end of the fiscal. ITR4 (Sugam) is filed by those individuals who have opted for income calculation under presumptive income from business and profession. Only resident Indians will have to quote Aadhaar for filing ITR as the I-T department has made it mandatory for them for assessment year 2017-18. The government, as per the Finance Act 2017, has made it a must for taxpayers to quote Aadhaar or enrolment ID for filing of income tax returns (ITR). Also, one has to have Aadhaar to apply for permanent account number with effect from July 1, 2017. As per the Aadhaar (Targeted Delivery of Financial and Other Subsidies, Benefits and Services) Act, 2016, only a resident individual is entitled to obtain Aadhaar. Resident as per the said Act means an individual who has resided in India for a period or periods amounting in all to 182 days or more in the 12 months immediately preceding the date of application for the enrolment. The Income-Tax Act defines a resident as a person who has stayed equal to or more than 182 days of current financial year in India or if he stayed in India for 60 days or more in previous financial year, among others. People who do not satisfy these criteria are considered as NRIs (non-resident Indians). There are more than 25 crore PAN card holders in the country while Aadhaar has been issued to 111 crore people.