Under fire, govt. hints at U-turn on new I-T forms

Faced with criticism, the Modi government may roll back the new income tax returns forms, notified on Friday, that mandate disclosures of foreign trips and all bank accounts held in and outside India

and details of passports and Aadhaar numbers.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, who is leading the Indian delegation in Washington for the annual spring meetings of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund, told The Hindu that he had sought a review of the 14-page forms notified by the Central Board of Direct Taxes to guard against potential harassment of taxpayers.

He had spoken to officials in Delhi.

The new forms were to be applicable from the current assessment year, which requires taxpayers to furnish details, if any, of overseas travel, such as the money spent on the trips and its sources, of the previous financial year (2014-15).

The forms require taxpayers to disclose the number of bank accounts they have held, including those closed during 2014-15, along with the closing balance in the live accounts as on March 31.

The name and the address of the banks in which accounts were held, the account numbers and the IFSC (Indian Financial System Code) code, with details of the joint account holders, if any, have to be disclosed in the forms.