The Finance Ministry said there is no change in the new income tax regime for individuals for the current fiscal year and individual taxpayers can opt out of the regime at the time of filing their income tax return (ITR).

Clarifying on social media posts claiming certain changes in the new tax regime effective April 1, the Ministry said, “There is no new change which is coming in from 01.04.2024.”

A modified new income tax regime was rolled out from the financial year beginning April 1, 2023, for individuals under which the tax rates are “significantly lower”. However, the benefit of various exemptions and deductions (other than the standard deduction of ₹50,000 from salary and ₹15,000 from family pension) is not available, as in the old regime.

“New tax regime is the default tax regime. However, taxpayers can choose the tax regime (old or new) that they think is beneficial to them…Option for opting out from the new tax regime is available till filing of return for the AY 2024-25,” the Ministry said.

Under the new I-T regime, income of up to ₹3 lakh is exempt from tax. A 5% tax is levied on income between ₹3-6 lakh, 10% for income between ₹6-9 lakh. Income between ₹9-12 lakh and ₹12-15 lakh is subject to 15% and 20% tax, respectively. A 30% tax would be applicable on income above ₹15 lakh.

The new tax regime was set as “a default regime” from 2023-24 and the Assessment Year corresponding to this is AY 2024-25. This can be changed by the taxpayer at the time of filing the ITR. Eligible persons without any business income will have the option to choose the regime for each financial year. So, they can choose the new tax regime in one financial year and the old tax regime in another year and vice-versa, the Ministry said in a statement.

The old tax regime which is still in force and offers a host of deductions and exemptions, exempts income up to Rs 2.5 lakh from taxes. Income from ₹2.5-5 lakh attracts 5% tax, and 20% for income between ₹5 lakh and ₹10 lakh. A 30% is levied on income above ₹10 lakh.

New Delhi:

The income tax department on Wednesday said a record number of over 7.85 crore ITRs were filed till October 31.

The total number of ITRs (income tax returns) filed in FY 2023-24 for all assessment years up to October 31, 2023 stands at 7.85 crore, an all-time high when compared to total number of ITRs of 7.78 crore filed in FY 2022-23, the I-T department said.

October 31 was the due date for filing of ITRs (other than ITR 7), for taxpayers (not having any international or specified domestic transaction), in whose case books of account were required to be audited.

“The total number of ITRs for AY 2023-24 filed till 31st October, 2023 is more than 7.65 crore, which is 11.7 per cent higher compared to the total number of ITRs of 6.85 crore for AY 2022-23 filed till November 7, 2022, the due date for filing such ITRs in the preceding year, the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) said in a statement.

Out of the 7.65 crore ITRs filed for AY 23-24, more than 7.51 crore ITRs have already been verified. Further, out of 7.51 crore verified ITRs, 7.19 crore have already been processed till October 31, 2023, almost 96 per cent of the verified ITRs stand processed.

October 31, 2023 was also the due date for filing of some crucial statutory forms like Form 10B, 10BB and Form 3CEB. Total number of various types of statutory forms filed up to 31st October, 2023 stands more than 1.44 crore.

During the peak filing days the e-filing portal successfully handled the traffic, providing a seamless experience to the taxpayers and tax professionals for filing of Forms and ITRs.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)