E-returns for those with over 10 lakh income

New Delhi: The government has asked individuals with income of over Rs 10 lakh to electronically file tax returns for 2011-12 , something which was optional till the previous financial year. The recently-introduced tax returns forms also ask individuals to furnish details of donations made for claiming tax deductions.

Further, resident individual taxpayers need to disclose overseas assets in their tax returns. The move to ask expatriates to furnish details of bank accounts and foreign assets is expected to cause hardship, said PricewaterhouseCoopers executive director Kuldip Kumar . These individuals pay taxes in India as they earn salaries here.

While these individuals also pay taxes on income accruing from overseas in their home countries, the new provisions will require them to provide details of all income to Indian tax authorities .

Sanjiv Choudhary, Partner at KPMG, said Sahaj and Sugam forms, which were introduced last year to make returns for specified taxpayers less complex, cannot be used by resident individuals , who are now required to report foreign assets. Kumar said the new forms are beneficial for those who want to claim indexation benefit, while calculating long-term capital gains tax. The new forms have also provision to furnish information regarding co-ownership of house property, which the earlier forms did not provide.