The government has issued a new set of income tax return (ITR) forms that require people with an income of Rs 50 lakh and above per annum to disclose their assets.

• The new forms are for assessment year 2016-17.
• The finance ministry published a gazette order in this regard and taxpayers can file their their ITRs till the stipulated deadline of July 31.
• The income tax (I-T) department has introduced fresh reporting columns in the new forms (ITR-2 and 2A) called ‘Asset and liability at the end of the year’, which is applicable in cases where the total income exceeds Rs 50 lakh.
• Individuals and entities in this income bracket will have to mention the total cost of such assets.
• Immovable assets like land and buildings have to be declared as also movable assets like cash in hand, jewellery, bullion, vehicles, etc. The entity reporting these will also have to describe the “liability in relation” to these.
• Experts said this was a move in the right direction and would help the government crack down on unaccounted income and assets.
• According to information available in reports to the parliamentary standing committee on finance, there were 565,000 taxpayers earning over Rs 20 lakh in assessment year 2013-14, and about 50,000 taxpayers had declared income of over Rs 1 crore.