Important alert for taxpayers! Income Tax department launches this utility - All details here

In an important development for taxpayers, the Income Tax Department has launched the offline utility for taxpayers filing ITR - 1 and 4 for 2020-21 fiscal year. The offline utility is available on the e-filing portal and is based on new technology JSON (JavaScript Object Notation), which is a light weight format for storing data.

The offline utility can be downloaded on computers with operating system Windows 7 or later versions.

"This Offline Utility is enabled only for ITR-1 and ITR-4. Other ITRs will be added in the utility in subsequent releases," the department said, while releasing the step-by-step guide for its filing. "Once filing is enabled, you can upload the same at e-filing portal," the I-T department added.

ITR Form 1 (Sahaj) and ITR Form 4 (Sugam)

ITR Form 1 (Sahaj) and ITR Form 4 (Sugam) are simpler forms that cater to a large number of small and medium taxpayers. Sahaj can be filed by an individual having income up to Rs 50 lakh and who receives income from salary, one house property / other sources (interest etc).

ITR-4

ITR-4 can be filed by individuals, Hindu Undivided Families (HUFs) and firms with total income up to Rs 50 lakh and having income from business and profession.

I-T return filers can import and pre-fill the data from e-filing portal and can also fill the remaining data. Since the facility to upload ITR at the e-filing portal is not yet enabled, filers can fill and save the offline utility.

Through the offline utility, taxpayers shall have to download the pre-filled data from the income tax e-filing portal and import the same on the new utility, which enables users to edit and save returns, pre-filled data and profile data.

Last week, the I-T department had notified forms for filing tax returns for 2020-21.