Online Tax return filing for Indians for FY
2013-14 would be different in many ways. However, one thing which really stands
out is that it will have more tax payers under its ambit in compare to any
previous year since now it is mandatory to e-file your tax return if your
income is more than Rs.5 lacs. This article would stress on 11 things
which a tax payer should keep in mind while e-filing his tax return, especially
first time filers.
1) Permanent Account Number - This is a unique
alpha-numeric number allotted to you, which basically is the base identifier
for all correspondence with the IT department. Thus it is of paramount
interest to double check the PAN number while e-filing your tax return.
2) E-mail Id – IT has become hi-tech and moving
towards paper less environment, wherein most of the correspondence from them,
including ITR acknowledgment and intimation would come to the email id you
provide in the tax return.
3) Your Bank Account Details - This would
contain your bank a/c number, MICR code and from this year onwards one more
mandatory detail is required i.e., IFSC code of your banker.
4) Correct ITR Form - It is very
important to select the correct ITR form that is applicable to you for E-filing
of tax return as the government has made various changes in regard to the
selection of ITR forms for different assessees. If you fail to select correct
form then your IT Return may be regarded as defective return.
5) Check Form-26AS before filing- The Government keeps record of all tax deposited/ credited to
your PAN number. You can register with the e-filing site of IT Department to
view your Form-26AS. It is important to note here that the information
disclosed in your income tax return form should match with the details in your
Form 26AS. Thus there is a need to check Form-26AS while doing e-filing your
tax returns.
6) Provide Details of all the Tax saving investments made by you- It is advisable that one should always make a list of Tax
saving investments made throughout the year which are eligible for deduction
under Chapter VI of the Income Tax Act, otherwise there is always a chance to
miss those in the tax returns, and not claiming benefit on those.
7) Filing ITR with Multiple Form16- Form 16 is a certificate issued by an employer to an employee
who provides details in respect of salary earned by the employee and tax
deducted at source by the employer. Tax payers often get confused regarding how
to file their income tax return with multiple Form16, wherein they have worked
for more than one employer in a financial year.
8) Interest on savings bank account is taxable- Interests on savings bank account, post office savings and
savings in cooperative banks are taxable when amount exceeds Rs.10000. Thus if
you have such income then you should disclose it the income tax return. Only
saving bank interest income is exempt upto Rs. 10000, and this fact
misunderstood. For example, interest on fixed deposit and recurring deposit are
fully taxable income which is to be shown under the head “income from other
sources”.
9) Exempt income need to be disclosed separately in the returns - It has been noted that many tax payers do not disclose exempt
incomes in their income tax return on the contention that they are not taxable.
IT department has taken this very seriously by making ITR 2 applicable to tax
payers, who have exempt income of more than Rs .5000, thus they can’t file ITR
1. Thus, it is advisable to disclose all exempt income at the required
schedule in the ITR return.
10) Mailing ITR-V submission is a
must when ITR is uploaded without digital signature – ITR-V (income tax return
verification ACK) is generated when a ITR is uploaded online without use of the
digital signature. ITR-V ACK is required to be mailed to the CPC, Bangalore
within 120 days of the upload of the ITR online. Upon the receipt of this, the
CPC sends a final Acknowledgement to the email id.
11) Keep documentary evidences of all the information you give- Last but not the least, tax payers should look to properly
maintain all the documentary evidence that is associated with the filing of
return which the assessing office might call upon in future.
About Author:
Alok Patnia founded Taxmantra.com to
understand and address the pain points of individuals, businesses and startups.
He is an expert in handling ITR filing, has great insights on the business
startup issues such as choosing right business entity and also has vast
experience in the field of business maintenance services such as accounting,
auditing, company law compliances, service tax and other related fields.
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