Form number 61A is the statement of specified financial transactions under Section 285BA (1) of the Income Tax Act, 1961.
As a taxpayer in India, you need to fill different tax forms mandatorily. Form 61A comes under 114E of the Income Tax Rules, 1962, which specifies all high-value transactions that you should mention. It comes after the creation of the new concept called the Statement of the Financial Transactions (SFT). It was previously known as the Annual Information Return (AIR).
If you are confused about what is form 61a, all you need to do is go to Section 285BA of the Income Tax Act that mentions a detailed list of the reporting persons who have to fill this form. You can check your applicability and download this form on the Income Tax portal.
Thus, it is one of the critical steps for you if you fall under the category of persons eligible for filing the SFT.
The SFTs or reportable account is furnished in the form 61a. Thus, the following persons/institutions are required to fill the form 61A before the due date:
S. No. |
Type of Organization |
Type of work |
1 |
A banking company or a cooperative bank, all post offices, Nidhi as specified in section 406 of the Companies Act, 2013 |
It involves cash payments for the purchase of different instruments for amounts more than INR 10 Lakhs, deposits or withdrawals that amount to INR 50 Lakhs, depositing amounts more than INR 10 Lakhs, etc. |
2 |
Any company or institution issuing the credit cards |
Receipt of cash payments that amount to more than INR 1 Lakh or any other mode of payment that amounts to more than INR 10 Lakhs against any credit card bill. |
3 |
Any individual covered under audit under section 44AB of the Income Tax Act, 1961 |
|
4 |
An organisation issuing debentures or bonds |
Receipt of transactions that amounts to more than INR 10 Lakhs |
5 |
An organisation issuing shares |
Receipt of transactions that amounts to more than INR 10 Lakhs |
6 |
Any mutual funds company |
Receipt of transactions that amounts to more than INR 10 Lakhs |
7 |
Any company listed on the recognised stock exchange |
Receipt of share buybacks that amounts to more than INR 10 Lakhs |
8 |
A trustee or any other person authorised by the trustee of the mutual funds |
Receipt of transactions that amount to more than INR 10 Lakhs |
9 |
A money changer, offshore banking unit, authorised dealer, or any other person defined by the FEMA |
A receipt of the sale of foreign currency for amounts more than INR 10 Lakhs
|
10 |
A sub-registrar or Inspector General appointed under the Registration Act, 1908 |
Cash receipts exceeding the amount of INR 2 Lakhs |
11 |
An NBFC or non-banking financial company |
|
After going through the form 61A applicability, any individual falling in the categories mentioned above must fill it to prevent any action from the Income Tax department if they have high-value transactions.
The statement number in form 61A is a validation field. Thus, it is crucial to fill this form, or the Income Tax department will reject your form. It is further mandatory to run a validation check to look for any possible correction in the form.
It is a free text field that is used to mention the sender’s unique identifying number that works as identification of any specific statement being sent. This number helps the sender and receiver identify the particular statement in case of any issues. The successful submission of the transaction creates a new and unique statement ID.
Thus, the reporting entities must remain a link with the statement number and statement ID. This unique ID is, therefore, the main point of identification of the statements in the form. It is possible to regain the original statement ID, which may get replaced or deleted due to any reason.
It is great to look at all the different parts of Form 61A before you start filling it. Thus, the different parts of this form are namely:
Part A: Statement details
A1: Reporting entity details
A2: Statement details
A3: Principal Officer details
Part B: Report details for aggregated financial transactions
B1: Report number
B2: Person details
B3: Financial transaction summary
B4: Financial product details
Part C: Report details for bank/post office account
C1: Report number
C2: Account details
C3: Account summary
C4: Person details
Part D: Report details for immovable property transactions
Report number
Transaction details
Person details
The last part of form 61A contains all detailed instructions to fill it.
Form 61A mentions the following different types of SFTs:
Works contract
Any investments made or expenditure incurred
Sale, exchange, or purchase of goods
Right, interest in the property, or any other property-related transactions
Providing services
The due date to fill the SFT is within 31st May of the next year for every previous financial year in which these transactions have occurred. If any taxpayer who comes under the relevant category of the SFTs fails to fill this form, it invites a penalty.
Section 271A specifies the penalty if you fail to fill Form 61A within the due date. This penalty is INR 500 per day. Further, the Income Tax Department issues notice to such an individual. The department demands the submission of this form within the thirty days of issuance of the notice.
If the individual doesn’t fill the form even after receiving the notice, the penalty increases to INR 1,000 per day. The total penalty is thus, calculated from the date of expiry period as specified in the notice. It is important to keep a check on the notice and make sure that all the due forms are filled. Do read about other details related to income tax and forms, only on Finserv MARKETS.