CBDT asks those who have won money in online games to pay taxes, file updated ITR If the income tax department later traces such income, such taxpayers will face consequences of a penalty and other legal actions under income tax laws
If you have won money playing online games in the previous financial year, then as per the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT), you must file an updated ITR (i.e., ITR-U) and pay taxes on the online game winnings accordingly.
The CBDT chairman Nitin Gupta, in an interview with PTI, said that ITR-U could also be utilised by those categories of taxpayers who have income from online games, lotteries and betting etc. "This is a provision for them to come forward and pay taxes rather than face the consequences of penalty or any other legal action under the income tax law," the CBDT chairman said.
What is ITR-U?
ITR-U stands for income tax return - updated; announced by the finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman in her Budget 2022 speech. ITR-U is filed under section 139(8A) of the Income-tax Act, 1961. ITR-U or updated return was introduced to give taxpayers an easy route to correct mistakes related to estimating their incomes on which tax is payable.
ITR-U provides an opportunity to update one's income tax returns within two years after the end of the relevant assessment year. ITR-U provides an opportunity for taxpayers to include any income they forget to pay tax on while filing their ITR. It is important to note that additional tax is payable at 25% to 50% on the additional income.
Taxpayers filing updated return will have to give reasons for updating the income. The reasons may include - return previously not filed or income not reported correctly, wrong heads of income chosen or reduction of carried forward loss.
Prior to ITR-U, once the original ITR was filed, an individual had an option to only file a revised ITR to correct any mistakes made at the time of filing their return. The last date for filing a revised ITR is December 31 of the assessment year. Once this deadline is missed, the individual cannot correct mistakes made while filing ITR.
Currently, ITR-U can be filed for the financial years 2019-20 and 2020-21 or assessment years 2020-21 or 2021-22.
It was reported by PTI that the income tax department has collected around Rs 28 crore in taxes after about 1 lakh returns were filed by taxpayers under the newly introduced return filing form called ITR-U.
Confirm ITR to get tax refund
The income tax department has been sending emails to taxpayers asking them to confirm that the ITR filed by them is correct. These emails have been sent either because taxpayers have claimed higher deductions than what is claimed via the employer or if their gross total income is less than from the previous year.
Also Read: Confirm your ITR within 15 days to get tax refund
(With inputs from PTI)
This story originally appeared on: India Times - Author:Tax Cognition
