Salaried Taxpayers Beware: How Income Tax Quietly bought Significant Changes in ITR Excel Utilities Introduced for FY 2024-25

Salaried Taxpayers Beware: How Income Tax Quietly bought Significant Changes in ITR Excel Utilities Introduced for FY 2024-25

The Income Tax Department has introduced several significant amendments to the ITR (Income Tax Return) validation rules for AS 2025-26 (income earned in the financial year 2024-25). So far, only the Excel-based ITR forms for ITR-1 and ITR-4 have been released.

A quick look at these forms shows that most of the changes affect salaried individuals or those who have taken loans for electric vehicles or homes, or are paying house rent. These taxpayers usually file ITR-1.

The changes mainly ask for more detailed information (extra declarations). Various experts say these amendments are introduced to reduce the cases of bogus income tax deduction claims at the time of filing ITR. Previously, the task of checking the authenticity of tax deductions was done by the Income Tax Department itself while processing ITR. Now, the system checks them automatically when you file the return. This means fewer mistakes and faster ITR processing.

Amendments Introduced in ITR Validation Rules for AY 2025-26 (FY 2024-25)

Most of the rule changes relate to deductions under the old tax regime. Here are seven key changes made in the ITR filing utilities for FY 2024-25 (AY 2025-26):