Taxpayers can now file updated returns within 2 years: FM Sitharaman

The taxpayers can now file updated returns within two years, announced Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday.

"To provide an opportunity to correct an error, taxpayers can now file an updated return, on payment of additional tax, within two years from the end of the relevant assessment year," Sitharaman said while presenting her fourth Union Budget in Parliament.

Emphasizing that India is growing at an accelerated pace and people are undertaking multiple financial transactions, the Finance Minister said that the Income Tax Department has established a robust framework for reporting of taxpayers' transactions.

"In this context, some taxpayers may realize that they have committed omissions or mistakes in, correctly estimating their income for tax payment," she said as she announced the reform in the direct tax regime.

Sitharaman further said that filing an updated return is an "affirmative step in the direction of voluntary compliance."

The FM has also announced to reduce the Alternate Minimum Tax to 15 per cent.

The Finance Minister further said that co-operative surcharge will be reduced from 12 per cent to 7 per cent, for those having total income of more than Rs 1 crore and up to Rs 10 crore.

Sitharaman said that this would help in enhancing the income of cooperative societies and their members who are mostly from the rural and from farming communities.

( With inputs from ANI )