ITR: How to report capital gains, CGAS withdrawals and buybacks

I-T department has released ITR-2 and 3 offline forms for taxpayers with capital gain, business or crypto income

- Shipra Singh

The income tax department has finally released the utilities for income tax return (ITR) forms 2 and 3, allowing individuals with capital gains, cryptocurrency investments, and business income to file their tax returns for 2024-25.

Because of the delay in releasing the forms, the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has extended the ITR filing deadline for the current assessment year from 31 July to 15 September. However, despite the extension, both taxpayers and tax professionals are facing significant difficulties, said Prakash Hegde, a Bengaluru-based chartered accountant.

Currently, only the offline Excel utilities for forms 2 and 3 are available, which means those who prefer filing their returns online will have to wait further. "Many taxpayers, especially senior citizens and non-residents are eager to file returns to claim refund. Meanwhile, tax professionals are trying to shift focus to audit cases, whose deadline is 30 September, but are still catching up on pending ITR filings," Hegde noted.

Even if you file ITR online, preparing your tax return based on offline utilities would help. "Taxpayers can download the latest utility and review the instructions for each schedule carefully to ensure they are well prepared," said Bhawna Kakkar, chartered accountant and founder, Kakkar & Co., Chartered Accountants.

More disclosures Ashish Karundia, the founder of chartered accountancy firm Ashish Karundia & Co., said key changes are bifurcation of capital gains made before and after 23 July, capital loss on buyback transactions done after 1 October 2024, increase in the filing mandate of Schedule AL (assets and liabilities) to ₹1 crore, enhanced reporting of deductions like house rent allowance, section 80C, etc., and Schedule TDS (tax deducted at source) mapping with TDS sections.

"Unlike last fiscal, each TDS entry must include the section under which tax was deducted," said Karundia.