Declaration of Assets & Liabilities in the new ITR forms

Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) have released new income-tax return formswith mandatory provisions of declaring Assets & Liabilities (A&L) such as cars, jewellery yacht, aircrafts, shares, properties, etc. Prior to Assessment Year (A.Y.) 2015-16, the Asset –Liability Schedule (AL schedule) was applicable to filers of ITR 3 and 4, whose total income for the previous year exceeded Rs.25 lakh. The Wealth-tax Act primarily captured the information regarding assets of specified taxpayers. With a view to reduce compliance burden, the Wealth-tax Act was made inapplicable from A.Y.2016-17 with the stipulation that the information regarding assets forming part of the wealth-tax return will be captured in the Income-tax returns. Accordingly, the ITR forms for A.Y. 2016-17 have been rationalised by making the Schedule AL applicable to individuals and Hindu undivided family (HUFs) whose total income for the previous year 2015-16 exceeds Rs.50 lakh. The objective of AL schedule is to capture details of assets and liabilities and not the net worth.