ITR Filing: Taxpayers have to fill and submit the ITR-B form within the next 60 days as per the format and procedure prescribed by the department.
ITR Filing: The Finance Ministry has released a new ITR-B form for the financial year 2025-26 (FY 2026-27). This form will be required for those taxpayers whose undeclared income has been detected during search or requisition action by the Income Tax Department. This rule will apply to cases where action has been taken on or after September 1, 2024.
Unlike other return forms like ITR-1, ITR-2 or ITR-3, ITR-B is for a specific situation and is filed on the basis of block assessment year. That is, when a person is subjected to a search or seizure, he has to account for undeclared income not just for that year but for many years before that.
For example, ITR-1 is normally filed for one financial year, but through ITR-B, returns can be filed covering undeclared income for up to 6 years at a time.
Along with this new form, the Finance Ministry has also issued four important points, which will serve as guidance for taxpayers while filing ITR-B.
Deadline and rules for filing ITR-B: Return must be filed within 60 days of receiving the notice
If the Income Tax Department has conducted a search or requisition of documents at someone’s place, then it will be necessary to fill the ITR-B form. This rule applies under section 158BC of the Income Tax Act. According to the gazette notification issued by the Finance Ministry, this form has to be filled only in those cases where the search or seizure action has started on or after September 1, 2024.
ITR-B form has to be filled within 60 days
The time limit for filing the ITR-B form is 60 days from the date of receipt of the notice. That is, as soon as the notice is issued by the Income Tax Department, taxpayers have to fill and submit this form within the next 60 days as per the format and procedure prescribed by the department.
What information needs to be given in ITR-B?
In this form, taxpayers have to give information about their undeclared income. They have to report their income in different categories, and that too according to each assessment year. In this, it is necessary to give information about assets like cash, gold, jewelry, virtual digital assets.
The purpose of this form is to make tax declaration more transparent, so that taxable income can be assessed accurately.
TDS and TCS can also be claimed
Taxpayers can also claim credit of TDS (Tax Deducted at Source) and TCS (Tax Collected at Source) through this form. But its claim will be accepted only when the tax officer is satisfied with the information given in the form. That is, all the information given in the form will be checked and verified, only after that the claim will be considered valid.
What are the important things to keep in mind while filing ITR-B?
If there is a search or requisition action by the tax department at your place, then you have to file ITR-B for the block assessment period. It is important to keep several important things in mind in this process:
- Choose the right form: ITR-B is only for those persons against whom search or seizure action has been taken. Therefore, it is important to understand that this is not a normal ITR.
- Disclosure of previously undisclosed income is mandatory: The income that has been unearthed during search or seizure must be correctly shown in this return. If any information is missed or given incorrectly, heavy penalties can be imposed.
- Follow the deadline: The deadline for filing ITR-B is within 60 days of receiving the tax notice. It is very important to adhere to this deadline.
- Disclosure of provisional figures: If the regular ITR deadline is still pending at the time of filing ITR-B and your audit is not complete, you can file provisional figures. But it will be necessary to correctly reflect these in the regular ITR later.
- Exclude certain incomes from ITR-B: Income relating to international transactions or certain domestic transactions (section 158BB(3)) should not be included in this return. These are assessed separately.
By keeping all these things in mind, you can file ITR-B correctly and in a legally safe manner.
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