Simplify tax forms: IMC to FM

The Indian Merchants Chamber and Bombay Chartered Accountants Society has made an appeal to finance minister P Chidambaram to simplify the process of filing income tax returns by restoring the Saral forms.

In a joint memorandum submitted to the finance minister, the associations said the Income Tax (Fourth Amendment) Rules 2007 belied the hopes of the tax paying community, as laymen could not comprehend them easily.

The assessees to whom the new Income Return Forms applied were either salaried employees and pensioner or small businessmen, the memorandum said. They were all from the unorganised sector and ill- equipped to fathom the new Income Tax Returns complicated forms, it said.

"We apprehend that the newly prescribed ITR Forms are bound to cause greater hardship, apart from consuming the precious time and energy of the worthy citizens of the country. In view of this, it is absolutely essential that at least Forms ITR 1 to ITR 4 are made far simpler," the memorandum stated.

The last date for filing income tax returns is July 31 for salaried individuals, self-employed, small enterprises with a turnover of less than Rs 40 lakh (Rs 4 million) and professionals with receipts of less than Rs 10 lakh (Rs 1 million) a year.