Section 115BAC - Understanding the New Tax Regime

The Finance Minister, Nirmala Sitharaman had presented the Budget 2020 on the 1st of February 2020. Finance Minister had many major announcements including introduction of new tax regime under section 115BAC of Income Tax Act, 1961. The new tax regime is available only to individuals and HUF. Also, new regime comes with reduced income tax slab rates and the removal of rebates and exemptions.

New Tax Slab Rates

Under section 115BAC, new tax slabs have been introduced with existing rates which are slashed on income up to INR 15 Lakh. The tax slab rates as per the New Income Tax Regime are as follows:

Changes in Deductions and Exemptions in as per section 115BAC

According to the announcement made in the Budget 2020, there have been major removals of tax exemptions and deductions. This has made tax compliance less tedious. Here is the list of what deductions that have been removed as per clause (i) of sub-section (2) of section 115BAC:

1. Leave travel concession as per section 10(5);
2. House rent allowance as per section 10(13A);
3. Official and personal allowances (other than those as may be prescribed) as per section 10(14);
4. Allowances to MPs/MLAs as per section 10(17);
5. Allowance for income of minor as per section 10(32);
6. Exemption for SEZ unit as per section 10AA;
7. Standard deduction, the deduction for entertainment allowance and employment/professional tax as per section 16;
8. Interest under section 24 in respect of self-occupied or vacant property as per section 23(2).
9. Additional depreciation under clause (iia) of sub-section (1) of section 32;
10. Deductions u/s 32AD, 33AB, 33ABA;
11. Various deduction for donation or expenditure on scientific research contained in section 35;
12. Deduction u/s 35AD or section 35CCC;
13. Deduction from family pension under clause (iia) of section 57;
14. Any deduction under chapter VIA (like section 80C, 80CCC, 80CCD, 80D, 80DD, 80DDB, 80E, 80EE, 80EEA, 80EEB, 80G, 80GG, 80GGA, 80GGC, 80IA, 80-IAB, 80-IAC, 80-IB, 80-IBA,etc). However, deduction under sub-section (2) of section 80CCD (employer contribution on account of employee in notified pension scheme) and section 80JJAA (for new employment can be claimed.

Set-off of Losses and Unabsorbed depreciation as per section 115BAC

As per section 115BAC, losses from house property can only be set off against other income from house property. Moreover, losses from income from house property cannot be carried forward in the new income tax regime.

In the case of a business income, an individual or HUF cannot claim set-off of the brought forward business loss or unabsorbed depreciation and also cannot carry forward the same to the extent they relate to deductions/exemptions withdrawn in clause (i) of sub-section (2) of section 115BAC.

Opting for new scheme

As per the income tax laws, an individual having business income shall submit form 10-IE before the due date of filing ITR i.e. July 31 (unless extended by the government). For salaried individuals, they can submit form before/at the time of ITR filing.

Switching between Old Tax Regime & New Tax Regime

• Business Income
  • Individuals having business income are not eligible to choose between the new and old tax regime every year. Once they have opted for the new tax regime, they only have a one-time option of switching back to the old tax regime in their lifetime. Once they switch back, they cannot opt for new tax regime again.
  • Essentially, people with business income may have to fill Form 10-IE twice – once to use the new tax regime and the second time to switch back to the old regime.
• No Business Income
  • An individual having salaried income and no business income has the option to choose between the old and new tax regimes every year. This means that a salaried individual will have to file this form for every year for which he wants to choose the new tax regime.

FAQs