E-filing of select I-T returns to begin soon

The department notified the new set of ITR forms early this week

Taxpayers wanting to file online I-T returns for assessment year 2015-16, using the newly notified ITR-2 or ITR-2A forms, will have to wait for few more days as the tax department is in the process of launching the facility on its official website.

While two other ITRs, ITR-1 and ITR-4S, are ready to be filed and submitted at the official e-filing website--https://incometaxindiaefiling.gov.in-- proper links for the two forms used by a majority of taxpayers will be enabled shortly.

Officials said the links for the rest of the ITRs will be available very soon.

The department notified the new set of ITR forms early this week, including a three-page simplified form.

The e-filing of ITR can be done upto till August 31, the new deadline set in this regard by the government after it had dropped the earlier forms which had attracted criticism for seeking numerous additional details like that of filers' foreign travel and about dormant bank accounts.

The most simplified form, ITR-2A, to be filled by those individuals and HUFs who do not have income from either business, profession or by way of capital gains and do not hold foreign assets, only asks for the passport number of the tax-filer, with the words "if available".

The ITR-2 is meant for individuals and HUFs having income from business or profession.

Beginning this season, it is expected, that online filers will be given a One-Time Password (OTP) on their mobile phones to validate their returns in order to end the system of sending a paper acknowledgment (ITR-V) of the filed return.

For the same reason, the I-T department has asked taxpayers to provide their Aadhaar number in the ITR so that it can do a back-end validation of the same and successfully process the returns.