ITR forms notified for FY23, have schedule for virtual digital assets

Separate schedule for virtual digital assets requires details like date of acquisition, date of transfer head

The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has come out with forms for Income Tax returns for this financial year but not a common form as suggested earlier.

The return forms are almost identical to the previous ones but have one additional feature. A separate schedule for virtual digital assets (VDA) has been added to report income from assets such as crypto currency.

The separate schedule for VDA requires details like date of acquisition, date of transfer head under which income to be taxed (Capital Gain), cost of acquisition (in case of gift) to be filled in by a person who is in receipt of amounts.

Provisions for taxing VDAs were introduced from 2022-23. Income from the transfer of virtual digital assets, like crypto and non-fungible tokens (NFTs), are taxed at 30 per cent at the end of each financial year. No deduction, except the cost of acquisition, is allowed while reporting income from the transfer of digital assets

Schedule for VDA is there in every ITR except ITR1.

Saraswathi Kasturirangan, partner at Deloitte India, said ITR forms being notified well in advance this year is a welcome move and a step further for ease of compliance. ITR forms were earlier notified after the end of the financial year concerned.

"This will help taxpayers to be well prepared on the disclosures and reporting requirements in the tax return forms," she said.

While the CBDT had released a common ITR form for public consultation in November 2022, the new forms notified are separate ITR forms and one would need to wait for common ITR forms, said Kasturirangan.