Here is some much-needed good news for the lockdown affected country. An Income Tax money saving opportunity has just arisen!

Here is some much-needed good news for the lockdown affected country. An Income Tax money saving opportunity has just arisen! Now, you can make investments or payments for claiming deduction under Chapter-VIA-B of IT Act that include Section 80C (LIC, PPF, NSC etc.), 80D (Mediclaim) and 80G (Donations) for the financial year 2019-20 till June 30, 2020. The development comes as the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) notified the Income Tax department notified forms for filing income tax returns for the financial year 2019-20.

The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has notified Sahaj (ITR-1), Form ITR-2, Form ITR-3, Form Sugam (ITR-4), Form ITR-5, Form ITR-6, Form ITR-7 and Form ITR-V for the assessment year 2020-21.

The department has revised the I-T return forms for the financial year 2019-20 to allow assessees to avail benefits of various timeline extension granted by the government following the COVID-19 outbreak.

Now, the new forms require a separate table to disclose tax saving investment made in the first quarter of 2020 for availing them in FY 2019-20. Taxpayers must assess their tax liability for financial year 2019-20 in order to maximise their Section 80C, 80D, 80G benefits to save more money through investments.

The government has extended various timelines under the Income Tax Act, 1961, through the Taxation and Other Laws (Relaxation of Certain Provisions) Ordinance, 2020.