Income tax news: No taxpayer services on e-filing portal. Know date, timings, other details here

The income tax department has informed us that services for taxpayers on the e-filing portal will not be available between February 3 and early February 5 on account of scheduled maintenance.

"... taxpayer services on the e-filing portal will be restricted from 2 pm on Saturday (03.02.24) to 6 am on Monday (05.02.24) due to scheduled maintenance activity, involving technical upgradation of the system," the I-T department said in a post on X on 31st January.

The department also asked taxpayers to plan their activities accordingly.

CBDT notifies ITR forms for Assessment Year 2024-25

On Friday, the income tax department said it notified I-T return forms 2, 3, and 5 for filing tax returns for assessment year 2024-25.

"The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) dated January 31, 2024, has notified Income-tax Return Forms (ITR Form)- 2, 3 and 5 for the Assessment Year (AY) 2024-25," the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) said in a statement.

“The CBDT every year issues the new ITR Forms after incorporating the changes made by the Finance Act of 2023. The dept. also introduces new fields in the ITR Forms to enhance the transparency of various transactions and increase the disclosures in claiming various deductions. The new ITR Forms for the assessment year 2024-25 have various new fields for disclosures, such as Legal Entity Identifier (LEI) number, an acknowledgment number of the Audit Report and UDIN, and details of the Capital Gains Accounts Scheme, etc.,” said Naveen Wadhwa, Vice President, Research and Advisory, Taxmann.

The new ITR forms require taxpayers to provide more detailed information to claim various deductions. This move by the CBDT is a step towards ensuring greater accountability and transparency in tax compliance, added Naveen Wadhwa

The ITR-1, which is filed by individuals having a total income of up to ₹50 lakh, and ITR-6 for companies were notified earlier in December 2023, and January 2024, respectively.

All ITR Forms 1 to 6 have since been notified and will come into effect from April 1, 2024.