Budget 2019: Filing Income Tax Returns Made Easier With Pre-Filled Forms

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The pre-filled tax returns will contain details of salary income, capital gains from securities, bank interests, dividends and tax deductions, and the relevant information regarding incomes will be taken from several sources including banks.

To make the process of filing Income Tax Returns (ITR) easier for the taxpayers, union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman in her budget speech on Wednesday announced the government's plan to introduce pre-filled tax returns.

Sitharaman said that these tax returns will be available for the taxpayers and will contain all the necessary details. "Pre-filled tax returns will be made available to taxpayers which will contain details of salary income, capital gains from securities, bank interests, and dividends, etc. and tax deductions," she said.

According to the finance minister, all the relevant information regarding these incomes will be taken from several sources including banks, stock exchanges, mutual funds, EPFO, state registration departments, etc.

Sitharaman said that "this will not only significantly reduce the time taken to file a tax return but will also ensure accuracy of income and taxes."

In addition to this, to eliminate "undesirable practices on the part of tax officials," the government has planned to launch a scheme of faceless assessment in electronic mode involving no human interface in a phased manner this year.

In the beginning, such e-assessments will be carried out in cases requiring verification of certain specified transactions or discrepancies.

"Cases selected for scrutiny shall be allocated to assessment units in a random manner and notices shall be issued electronically by a Central Cell, without disclosing the name, designation or location of the Assessing Officer. The Central Cell shall be the single point of contact between the taxpayer and the Department. This new scheme of assessment will represent a paradigm shift in the functioning of the Income Tax Department, Sitharaman added.

Highlighting the efforts of her government, the finance minister stated that direct tax collections had grown 78 per cent between 2013-14 and 2018-19. "From Rs. 6.38 lakh crore in FY 2013-14 to around Rs. 11.37 lakh crore in FY 2018-19, the growth in direct tax collections is more than 78%. It is now growing at double digit rates every year," she said.