Filing ITR-2 this year? Know these changes before downloading Excel utility on e-filing portal

However, before heading to the Income Tax portal, you should understand the following changes in the Excel utility of ITR-2 for Assessment Year 2025-26 or FY 2024-25.

Under Schedule CG–A(A), you are now required to disclose capital losses from payments made by a company to shareholders for the buyback of its own shares. These capital losses can now be claimed, provided any related dividend income is also reported under ‘Income from Other Sources’.

Now, there is a new row in ITR-2 where you need to disclose any dividend income received under Section 2(22)(f). This section covers proceeds received by a shareholder from the buyback of the shares by the company.

You are now required to report the cost of acquisition and cost of improvement of land and buildings separately in case of transfers before, and on or after, July 23, 2024.

This disclosure will help taxpayers claim the indexation benefits correctly, if applicable.

The Income Tax department has increased the reporting threshold for the mandatory declaration of assets and liabilities. Now, you need to disclose assets and liabilities in ITR-2 only if your total income is above ₹1 crore. The earlier limit was ₹50 lakh.

The ITR-2 now has separate columns to disclose capital gains from transactions carried out before and on/after July 23, 2024. This had become necessary because of the changes announced by the Finance Act 2024.

In ITR-2 for AY 2025-26, the TDS schedule now has a new column for specifying the Section under which tax has been deducted at source.

The Income Tax Department has introduced the above changes in the ITR-2 Excel Utility to align with amendments in tax laws in FY 2024-25. They are also expected to improve accuracy while allowing taxpayers to make detailed disclosures now to avoid any tax hassles in the future.