ITR for AY 2024-25: Why it may be better to delay the filing of income tax returns by couple of months
Upstox
3 min read • Updated: April 6, 2024, 4:07 PM
Summary
ITR for AY 2024-25: This is for the first time in recent years that the Income Tax department has enabled taxpayers to file their returns on the first day of the new financial year. Experts, however, suggest that it may not be the best option to file the tax returns immediately as Form 26AS and AIS may not be fully updated yet.
The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has enabled the filing of income tax returns (ITRs) for assessment year 2024-25 (financial year 2023-24) from April 1 onwards. Till April 3, around 23,000 tax returns were already filed, as per a release issued by the Ministry of Finance.
The ITR functionalities i.e. ITR-1, ITR-2 and ITR-4, commonly used by individual taxpayers, are available on the e-filing portal from the start of this fiscal year. Companies are also able to file their ITRs through ITR-6 from April 1 onwards.
This is for the first time in recent years that the Income Tax department has enabled taxpayers to file their returns on the first day of the new financial year. “This is another giant step towards ease of compliance and seamless taxpayer services,” the finance ministry said.
Experts, however, suggest that it may not be the best option to file the returns immediately. Perhaps, taxpayers can avoid potential discrepancies by waiting till the updated Annual Information Statement (AIS) and Form 26AS are available.
What are Form 26AS and AIS?
Form 26AS is a document that lists all the tax deducted at source (TDS) and tax collected at source (TCS) during the financial year for which the tax returns are to be filed. The transactions that it lists also include those related to mutual funds, stock market, dividend and interest earnings of the taxpayer.
Meanwhile, the AIS is the summary sheet of the financial transactions of the taxpayer that have been included in Form 26AS.
How are they linked to filing of ITRs?
AIS, which is based on the data feeded through the Form 26AS, is used by taxpayers for confirming their taxation details while filing the returns. A taxpayer can confirm or seek a review of his tax liabilities on the basis of the information in the summary sheet.
However, tax experts, who suggest that the returns should not be immediately filed, say that the AIS may not be updated for the entire FY24 period. The transactions related to the period between January and March (fourth quarter) may not have been updated yet, they added.
The last date for updating TDS details pertaining to the fourth quarter of FY24 is May 31. As a result, AIS is likely to be fully updated in June, reports said. This is the reason behind experts suggesting taxpayers to wait for a couple of months before filing their returns.