Two new tax rules you should be aware of when filing your taxes

• You must disclose income from virtual digital assets (VDA)s such as cryptocurrencies, non fungible token (NFT)s and more in the ‘schedule VDA’ provided in the ITR form.
  
• Schedule VDA requires information such as the acquisition date, transfer date, category of income for taxation, acquisition cost in the case of a gift, and consideration received.
  
• The donation reference number (ARN), obtained from the form 10BE donation certificate must be included in the ITR to avail 80G deductions.
  

With the income tax filing deadline less than a month away, you need to ensure you are up-to-date on all the changes that are applicable this year. While modifications in tax and taxability of income from insurance policies (other than ULIPs) are among the most notable changes that have drawn a lot of attention, there are a couple of lesser known changes one should be aware of when filing one’s taxes. We take a look at these changes.

The first is about disclosing income from virtual digital assets (VDAs) such as cryptocurrencies. “The taxpayer must disclose income from VDAs such as cryptocurrencies, NFTs, and so on in the "schedule VDA" provided in the ITR form,” says Aashish Sharma, co- founder and litigation head, Lex N Tax, a tax consultancy firm.

Schedule VDA requires information such as the acquisition date, transfer date, category of income for taxation, acquisition cost in the case of a gift, and consideration received. “Those who get VDA income are not eligible to file ITR-1 or ITR-4. Such income can instead be declared in ITR 2 or ITR 3. Further, income from VDAs can be taxed either under the head of business income or capital gains,” says Sharma.

Budget 2022 had introduced new NFT (non fungible token) and VDA regulations. The transfer of such assets will be subject to an income tax rate of 30% plus a surcharge and a levy beginning April 1, 2022, as per recent regulations.

“TDS will be deducted at 1% of the sale price beginning July 1, 2022. This tax will be deducted by the developer, intermediary, broker or donor. The taxpayers cannot set off losses or carry forward the losses within crypto or from different heads,” says Suneel Dasari, founder and chief executive officer at EZTax, a tax portal.

Provide details of donation reference number to avail 80G deductions

To avail a deduction under Section 80G for donations made to charitable institutions, non governmental organisations or research universities, it is crucial to possess the donation receipt, and the donation certificate in Form 10BE. Taxpayers must provide the necessary information regarding their donations in the relevant 'Schedule 80G' within the ITR form in order to claim the deduction.

“All approved u/s 80G charitable institutions, NGOs, and research universities must submit Form 10BD for all donations received during the fiscal year. They must also provide form 10BE to the recipients,” says Dasari. Form 10BE, containing a unique registration number, will be issued to benefactors after form 10BD has been filed by the institution.

It is essential to enter donation details accurately in the appropriate table while filing the ITR. There is a new column under Table D for disclosing the donation reference number (ARN) for donations made to eligible entities where a 50% deduction is allowed, subject to the qualifying limit. The ARN, obtained from the form 10BE donation certificate issued by the institutions who received the donation, must be included in the ITR.

This has been implemented to match donor and donee records and reduce the prevalence of fraudulent donations claims.