After delayed notification of Income Tax Return (ITR) Forms of the last few years due to various reasons, the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has made a timely notification of ITR-1 to ITR-6 for the Assessment Year (AY) 2022-23.

So, with the ITR Forms notified for AY 2022-23, can assessees start filing their return of income now?

“Notification of the ITR Forms does not allow the assessee to file their return of income. It is necessary for the Income Tax Department to make available a technical mechanism for enabling filing of return either by way of direct filing on the Income Tax website or by way of Income Tax utility,” said Dr. Suresh Surana, Founder, RSM India.

On the Income Tax Portal – a new version of which was launched last year – the online filing option for ITR-1 and ITR-2 are only available under the drop down option of selecting the ITR Form to file returns of income for AY 2022-23.

ITR-1 is applicable for a Resident (other than Not Ordinarily Resident) Individual having total income up to Rs 50 lakh in the Financial Year (FY) 2021-22 with income from salary or pension, one house property, other sources (like interest, family pension, dividend etc) and/or agricultural income up to Rs 5,000.

However, even after fulfilling the above criterion, ITR-1 can’t be filed by a person, who – (i) is a director in a company; (ii) has held any unlisted equity shares at any time during the previous year; (iii) has any asset (including financial interest in any entity) located outside India; (iv) has signing authority in any account located outside India; (v) has income from any source outside India; (vi) is a person in whose case tax has been deducted u/s 194N; (vii) is a person in whose case payment or deduction of tax has been deferred on ESOP and/or (viii) who has any brought forward loss or loss to be carried forward under any head of income.

On the other hand, ITR-4 is applicable for an Individual or Hindu Undivided Family (HUF), who is Resident other than Not Ordinarily Resident or a Firm (other than LLP) which is a Resident having Total Income up to Rs 50 lakh and who fulfills all other eligibility conditions given under ITR-1.

So, assessees are eligible to file ITR-1 and ITR-4 now, provided they have all the information necessary to file their return of income in the absence of Form 16 / Form 16A etc.

“Currently, utilities for only ITR 1 and ITR 4 Sugam are available for filing of income tax returns for AY 2022-23. Thus, assesses would be able to furnish ITR 1 and ITR 4 for AY 2022-23. However, it is pertinent to note that since the due date for furnishing TDS returns for FY 2021-22 (AY 2022-23) has not yet lapsed by the deductors (such as employers / other payers deducting taxes on interest / rent / commission / professional fees, contractual payments, etc), TDS credit (if any) may not be available to the taxpayer or assessee if they chose to furnish their tax returns before the deductor furnishes their TDS returns,” said Dr. Surana.

Although Form 26AS, Annual Information Statement (AIS) and Taxpayer Information Summary (TIS) are available on the Income Tax Portal for the AY 2022-23 (FY 2021-22), they may not be fully populated yet.

So, in case you want to file your return of income (ITR-1 or ITR-4 as per your eligibility), you need to be doubly sure that you have collected all the necessary information that you must disclose in your ITR.