Pre-Filled ITR Form

The introduction of pre-filled returns is yet another milestone in this direction. In order to make the tax compliance process more convenient, pre-filled income tax returns (ITR) will be provided to individual taxpayers by the Income Tax Department. The ITR form, downloaded from the e-filing account of individuals, would now contain pre-filled details of salary income, house property income, capital gains from securities, bank interests, dividends, etc. and tax deductions. Information regarding these incomes will be collected from concerned sources such as banks, stock exchanges, mutual funds, EPFO, State Registration Departments etc. PAN will be used to pick the details from Form 26AS, the TDS return filed by payers and also the previous year’s ITR.

According to the latest update, the department has started providing pre-filled XML file which contains details such as employer details, allowances, deductions, dividend, and interest income and so on. The XML file can be downloaded by the individuals from the e-filing website and imported into the Excel utility of the relevant ITR form.

To enable pre-filling of return of income, the scope of furnishing of statement of financial transactions (SFT) has been widened to obtain information by mandating furnishing of statement by certain prescribed persons other than those who are currently furnishing the same and remove the current threshold of Rs 50,000 on aggregate value of transactions during a financial year. The correct furnishing of information in the SFT has been ensured by amending penalty provisions and widening the scope of penalty to cover all reporting entities.

Remember that pre-filled information will only be available on ITR 1 and ITR 4 if you file the return completely online on the department’s e-filing website. The form will not have pre-filled information if it is downloaded in Excel or Java format.

Forms ITR-1 and ITR-4

• ITR-1 should be used by resident individuals having total income of not more than ?50 lakh. Also, the source of income should only include income from salaries, one house property, other sources (like interest from bank deposit) and agricultural income of up to ?5,000.
• ITR-4 is for resident individuals, Hindu Undivided Families (HUFs) and firms having total income up to ?50 lakh and for those who choose to file their income under presumptive taxation scheme (PTS). PTS allows you to calculate your tax on an estimated income or profit. The scheme can be used by businesses having a total turnover of less than ?2 crore and eligible professionals with gross receipts of less than ?50 lakh in a financial year. Those who opt PTS are not required to maintain books of accounts.
• However, remember that ITR-1 and ITR-4 forms can’t be used to file returns by an individual who is either a director in a company or has invested in unlisted equity shares. Those having income from capital gains can file their return in ITR-2 form, while those having income from business and profession can file their return in ITR-3 form.

Pre-Filled Details

1. In its endeavor to make the process of tax filing easier, the income tax department last year decided to introduce pre-filled ITR forms with details of income and taxes paid by the assesses during the year. The aim was to use the information already available with the department and make the tax filing procedure simple and fast for taxpayers.
2. Earlier, ITR form had information like name, father’s name, Aadhaar number, bank account number and so on. This year, salary information with break-up and exemption claimed, interest on income tax refund is pre-filled in ITR-1 and ITR-4 forms. House property income is now pre-filled where TDS (tax deducted at source) is deducted on house property income.
3. The information available in pre-filled ITR forms is sourced from different places. “The income tax department sources such information from Form 26AS, TDS returns filled by the employer and also last year’s ITR. Besides, remember that this pre-filled facility is available only to those who file the return online on the portal. If the taxpayer uses excel or Java utilities, then they need to fill in all the details.
4. If you are using a pre-filled ITR form, make sure you cross check all the information mentioned in it. Taxpayers need to exercise extra caution while filing their tax return, they must cross-verify each amount and validate final results of tax payable or refund due.
5. This is especially important for those who may not have submitted all the proofs of their deduction and investment to their employer and want to claim them at the time of filing their return. Errors could also impact an assessee’s dues or refunds.

However, those individuals who are required to file their tax return using excel utility such as ITR-2 had to fill-in all details such as name, permanent account number (PAN) and so on which was pre-filled on the online platform for ITR-1 filers.

ITR-2 requires taxpayers to report the salary income as follows:

1. Salary as per section 17(1),
2. Value of perquisites as per section 17(2) and
3. Profit in lieu of salary as per section 17(3)

Steps for Downloading XML File from E-Filing Website

Follow the steps below to download the pre-filled XML file from e-filing website:

Step 1: Log into your account on www.incometaxindiaefiling.gov.in

Step 2: Click on ‘My Account’ tab and select ‘Download Pre-fill XML’ option

Step 3: Select the assessment year – 2019-20. Select the ITR-form for which you wish to download pre-filled XML. For instance, here we have taken example of ITR-2. Click on Continue.

Step 4: Select the bank account/s which you want to be pre-filled in the ITR form. Also, select the pre-validated bank account in which you wish to receive the tax-refund, if any. Remember from this year, tax department will issue e-refunds to those bank accounts in which PAN is linked and which are pre-validated on the e-filing website.

Step 5: Click on ‘Download XML’.

A zip file will be downloaded and you are required to extract it using RAR software.

How to Import XML File into the Excel Utility

Follow the steps below to import the pre-filled XML file into excel utility file:

Step 1: Download the excel utility of the form relevant to your income for FY 2018-19. Remember, the pre-filled XML and the ITR form must be the same.

Step 2: Extract the excel utility from the zip file and open it.

Step 3: Click on ‘Import Personal and Tax Details from Pre-filled XML’. The details from the XML file will be imported to your ITR form.

Remember to cross-check and verify the income details once it is imported into the ITR form.

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