The Income tax return for salaried individuals (having income up to Rs. 50 lakh) just got simpler with the CBDT coming up with a single page form, as against seven page one earlier.
The new income tax return form-1(SAHAJ), which would apply for assessment year 2017-18, could be used for those receiving income from Salary/One House Property/other income (interest etc). This simplified one page form is expected to benefit more than two crore taxpayers.
Demonetisation
Interestingly, the new form SAHAJ requires reporting of cash deposited in a bank account from November 9 last year to December 30, 2016. This is required to be filled only if the taxpayers have deposited Rs. 2,00,000 or more during the demonetisation period.
Quoting of Aadhaar has been made mandatory. In case an individual has not received Aadhaar card but applied for the same, they can give their enrolment ID.
Commenting on the latest CBDT move, Amit Maheshwari, Partner, Ashok Maheshwary & Associates LLP said that the simplification of the ITR form 1 (SAHAJ) reflects the Government intent to make it a non adversarial and simplified tax regime especially for salaried individuals who typically fall under the low risk category.