Taxpayers filing income tax returns (ITR) for AY 2026-27 will see a new field on the online filing portal and in the JSON utility. This new field is meant to improve reporting of certain non-taxable receipts in ITRs.
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The new field is titled: 'Receipts not in the nature of income.' To be clear, this new section is not going to create any additional liability for taxpayers. It simply provides a separate section to report amounts that are not treated as income under the Income Tax Act. The broader goal is to make ITR more simplified and less confusing for taxpayers.
The areas mainly covered in this new section include certain gifts, loans and money received from the sale of rural agricultural land. Earlier, Livemint reported that this new field was not included in the officially notified ITR forms or the PDF versions on the income tax portal. It has been added only to the online filing portal.
What Does The New Addition Mean?
The new 'Receipts not in the nature of income' field is an additional disclosure requirement. It is meant for receipts that are not treated as income under the Income Tax Act but are received during the financial year and could otherwise be mistaken as income.
It is recommended to carefully review and report these as it can help taxpayers explain the source of funds, if required by the tax department. Examples of such receipts include loans received, inheritance and money received from the sale of certain personal assets.
The introduction of this field does not, by itself, create a new statutory obligation to disclose these receipts, Ritika Nayyar, Partner at Singhania & Co, explained to Mint. For instance, gifts received from specified relatives, gifts received on the occasion of marriage, etc. continue to remain non-taxable.
Similarly, money received from the sale of rural agricultural land is also not taxable as such land is not treated as a capital asset under the Income Tax Act. As a result, these benefits are not mandatorily reportable just because a new field has been created.
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