From income tax to Crypto tax, what will change from today? See details

With the beginning of new financial year 2022-23, a set of new tax rules has come into effect from today, April 1 2022. Here is a quick look at tax changes that have come into effect from April 1-

Starting FY22, EPFO will maintain separate PF accounts for the calculation of taxable and non-taxable contributions by a person for all subsequent years: one for contributions within the limit and the other for contributions over the limit.

If the employee's contribution to the EPF account exceeds Rs 2.5 lakh, then the interest earned on the excess contribution will be taxable.

As per the notification of the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT, any contributions made by an employee till March 31, 2021, will be considered tax-exempt for contributions up to Rs 2.5 lakh in FY 2021-22, interest will be credited into the existing EPF account. The interest credited in this account will remain tax-exempt.

The new EPF account will be opened if the EPF contributions in FY 2021-22 exceed Rs 2.5 lakh. The interest credited on the excess contribution (Rs X minus Rs 2.5 lakh) will be taxable for the employee.

If there are no contributions from an individual's employer, then the threshold will be Rs 5 lakh of the employee's contribution.

Effective from FY 2022-23, gains from virtual digital assets (VDA) such as bitcoin, dogecoin etc., will be taxed at a flat rate of 30%, announced in Budget 2022. Investors wouldn't be able to set off losses in one cryptocurrency against gains in another.

Selling the crypto assets in any scenario, i.e. at loss or profit, would attract a 1 per cent TDS. While gains in virtual assets will be taxed from April 1, the provisions concerning 1 per cent TDS will kick in from July 1, 2022.

A new subsection 139 (8A) has been added to the Income-tax Act. From April 1, 2022, taxpayers can file an updated return within two years from the end of the relevant assessment year. While filing an updated ITR, an individual will be required to pay 25% to 50% as additional tax on the tax and interest due.

From April 1, 2022, State government employees can contribute and claim up to 14 per cent of their basic salary and dearness allowance under the National Pension System scheme.

If the bank account is not KYC compliant, then no one will be able to operate their bank account. The restrictions will be placed on cash deposits, cash withdrawals etc.

There is a cap of 15% surcharge on long term capital gain on the sale of listed equity or mutual funds. From April 1 2022, this cap will be extended to long term capital gain on all assets.

From April 1 2022, income tax benefit under Section 80EEA has been discontinued. In Budget 2019, the centre announced an additional ₹1.50 lakh income tax benefit to home loan borrowers who buy their first property with stamp duty valuations of up to ₹45 lakh.

Budget 2022 has introduced a new tax benefit/ deduction for the parent/guardian of a disabled person. The parent or guardian of a differently-abled person can take an insurance scheme for such a person. As per the new tax sop, if the parent/guardian of a disabled person buys a savings life insurance policy with the latter as beneficiary, then the parent/guardian would be eligible for deduction from gross income before tax subject to certain conditions.

Senior citizens aged 75 years and above are exempted from filing income tax returns (ITR) from April 1, 2022.

Beginning April 1, 2022, the interest on Post Office MIS, SCSC or term deposit will not be handed out in cash but in the savings accounts. In a notification, the department of Post said, "The interest will only be credited only in the account holder's post office savings account or bank account. In case the account holder is not able to link his/her savings account with Senior Citizen Savings Scheme, Monthly Income Scheme and Term Deposit accounts, the outstanding interest should be paid only through credit in post office savings account or by cheque."

In the Union Budget for 2022-23, the finance minister proposed, a homebuyer should deduct tax deducted at source (TDS) at the rate of 1 per cent on a non-agriculture immovable property of over Rs 50 lakh based on the sale price or the stamp duty value, whichever is higher, effective from April 1, 2022.