Interest income breakup to be given in ITR1 for FY2018-19 : Income Tax Returns

Another Important change which has come in ITR forms is that the new Income Tax Return - 1 (ITR-1 or Sahaj) has asked taxpayer to give proper breakup of interest income.

Earlier the Interest Income was presented in ITR1 on Cumulative Basis for both Saving and Fixed Deposit interest.

We all know that Deduction of upto Rs. 50,000 for Senior Citizens and Rs. 10,000 for Other Tax Payer is available in Income Tax. With Cumulative Balance, it would have been difficult for Income Tax Department to segregate the Saving interest and Fixed Deposit Interest. But now this can be Done easily as Saving interest and Fixed Deposit interest is required to be disclosed separately in the ITR.

Interest income breakup to be given in ITR1 for FY2018-19 : Income Tax Returns

Screenshot of ITR1 Excel utility of FY 2017-18 and 2018-19 is given for reference. The ITR1 utility is available at Site of Income Tax Department.

It can be clearly seen that the new ITR forms now require a complete break up of the interest income which include interest on saving accounts, interest on fixed deposits, pass-through interest income and even interest on income-tax refund.

The main reason of this move is to prevent taxpayers from wrongly claiming deduction available under section 80TTA and 80TTB of Income Tax Act. After this change, it can be easily calculated by the department that how much deduction is available for saving interest. Also now the interest income can be easily matched with the interest earned by us as the department is already having details of our bank accounts.