CBDT asked winners of online games to file updated ITR to pay taxes on winnings of online games

The Central Board of Direct Taxes(CBDT) has asked winners of online games to file updated ITR to pay taxes on winnings of online games.

The Chairman of CBDT Nitin Gupta, said that just one online gaming portal had awarded more than Rs 58,000 crore in winnings in FY20-FY22, but hardly any winners had paid taxes on their winnings. Given that tax evasion is one among the country’s most serious offences, the CBDT has asked winners to update their income tax reports (ITR) as part of the updated income tax returns (ITR-U) initiative.

ITR-U can be used by taxpayer groups who receive income from online gaming, lotteries, betting, etc., according to CBDT Chairman Nitin Gupta. The CBDT chairman stated, “This is a provision for them to come forward and pay taxes instead of facing the penalties of penalty or any other legal action under the income tax legislation.”

According to the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT), you must file an updated ITR (i.e., ITR-U) and pay taxes on any winnings from online games if you made money playing them during the previous financial year.

ITR-U stands for income tax return – updated, and it was introduced by Nirmala Sitharaman, the finance minister, during her presentation of the Budget 2022. According to section 139(8A) of the Income-tax Act of 1961, ITR-Us are filed. ITR-U, or the updated return, was created to allow taxpayers a simple way to fix errors in estimating their incomes for tax purposes.

Within two years of the conclusion of the applicable assessment year, ITR-U gives taxpayers the chance to revise their income tax returns. Taxpayers have the chance to incorporate any income they neglected to disclose in their ITR file on ITR-U. It is significant to remember that additional tax on the additional income is due in the range of 25% to 50%.

What is the scheme?

One of the many modifications made to the Income Tax Act by the Finance Act of 2022 was the capability of updating or revising tax returns. The ITR-U scheme was introduced to enable taxpayers to make changes to the ITRs they had already filed for the preceding two fiscal years. For the financial years 2019–20 (FY20) and 2020–21, taxpayers can currently use the programme to modify their ITRs (FY21). By utilising the plan, taxpayers can fulfil their tax obligations without being subject to any legal repercussions.

Even so, taxpayers must explain why they updated their filings. These excuses include failure to file the ITR, inaccurate income reporting, income reported under the inappropriate headings, and reduction of carried forward loss.