Income Tax Return Filing ALERT! ITR-1 form rule changed, no longer applicable in these cases; check impact on you

Income Tax Return Filing: The Narendra Modi Government has decided to change some Income Tax Act 1961 rules that will have an impact on AY2020-21 and Income Tax Return (ITR) filing in 2020. According to the new income tax rules, if a person holds joint property with his spouse or pays more than Rs 1 lakh electricity bill or has spent Rs 2 lakh or more on overseas travel, they won't be able to file ITR-1 form for showing these expenses from now.

Speaking on the change in ITR-1 form related norms, Mumbai-based tax and investment expert Balwant Jain said, "Till 2019, those who had less than Rs 50 lakh income and had a joint property with their spouse had to file ITR-1. From now onwards, if an earning individual has less than Rs 50 lakh income has a joint property with spouse, then a separate ITR form will have to be filed - depending on their income. If they have business income then they will have to file ITR-2 form while those not having any business income will have to file ITR-3 form."

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Jain said that an earning individual who has paid Rs 1 lakh or more in a financial year also won't be able to file ITR-1 from now while those who have spent Rs 2 lakh or more in foreign travel will have to file other than ITR-1 form from 2020 or AY2020-21. "An earning individual who has spent Rs 2 lakh or above (including payments on to-and-fro tickets), will not be able to file ITR-1 as it was till 2019. Now, they will have to file other ITR forms."

Asked about the reason for such a change in ITR-1 form-related income tax rules Jain said that generally there is no scrutiny of the ITR-1 form. The Government asking earning individuals to mention their spending on the joint property, electricity bill and foreign travel in other ITR forms mean there is a possibility of scrutiny of such expenses by an earning individual in the coming times.