Income tax department introduces offline utility for ITR 1 and 4

This offline utility can be downloaded on all computers operating with Windows 7 or later versions. The department has also released a step-by-step guide to help out taxpayers with filing ITRs using the new technology.

The Income Tax (IT) Department has launched the offline utility for filing Income Tax return (ITR) 1 and 4, for the assessment year (AY) 2020-21. Taxpayers are required to file their ITRs by July 31, 2021, unless the government goes for an extension like it did last year.

To use the offline utility, taxpayers will need to download the pre-filled data from the income tax e-filing portal.

"Users can now download and fill the offline utility for ITR 1 & 4 (AY 2021-22)" read the online e-filing portal, adding that the utility for other ITRs will also be enabled shortly.

ITR-1, also known as Sahaj, is a simpler form that caters to Indian residents who earn upto ₹50 lakh annually, from salaries, property, or other sources, and agricultural income for upto ₹5,000. ITR-4, also known as Sugam, are filed by individuals, Hindu Undivided Families (HUFs) and firms with total income up to ₹50 lakh, and having income from business and profession which is computed under sections 44AD, 44ADA or 44AE, as per the income tax department’s website.

The IT department has discontinued the Excel and Java version of ITR utilities from AY 2020-21, ushering in JSON (JavaScript Object Notation), which is a newer, lightweight technology. This offline utility can be downloaded on all computers operating with Windows 7 or later versions. The department has also released a step-by-step guide to help out taxpayers with filing ITRs using the new technology.

“This Offline Utility is enabled only for ITR-1 and ITR-4. Other ITRs will be added in the utility in subsequent releases,” the department said, while releasing the step-by-step guide for its filing.

To use the offline utility, taxpayers will need to download the pre-filled data from the income tax e-filing portal and import the same on the new utility, which enables the user to edit and save returns, pre-filled data and profile data.