FM Jaitley to take up new ITR forms with business chambers today

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley will meet business chambers on Friday to get their views on new I-T returns form, after the government faced flak over it seeking details on bank accounts and foreign travel. The minister would meet representatives from CII, Ficci and Assocham on Friday to elicit their views on new ITR forms, sources said. Earlier this week, Jaitley held a meeting with tax officials on the new Income Tax Return (ITR) forms that have evoked sharp reactions from experts and others alike. 

Sources said the minister wants to hear stakeholders before finalising changes in the new forms to make it simpler. The CBDT, the apex policy -making body of the Income Tax department, had last week notified the forms for the current assessment year, seeking additional details to check the menace of black money. 

As it stands, the new ITR forms, including the ITR-1 and ITR-2, require an assessee to furnish the number of bank accounts held by the individual "at any time (including opened/closed) during the previous year" with the last balance in the account as on March 31 of the just-concluded fiscal.