As income-tax returns filing date nears, 7 documents to be kept ready

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The income-tax returns filing season is fast approaching with the initial deadline being July 31. 

The income-tax returns filing season is fast approaching with the initial deadline being July 31. You must be among those preparing to file your returns. But most tax assessees who are required to e-file their returns keep deferring till the last moment.

 

However, even if you are procrastinating, you need to be prepared with all the details that you need to provide in your tax returns. And for that you need a lot of documents to be with you. It may not easy to source these documents at the last moment since some have to obtained from your office, some come by mail and others need to be downloaded. And even if you have all of documents with you, you need to have them filed in a file that is easy to locate.

 

So what are these documents that you need to keep handy at the time of filing? FeMoney asked tax expert Sudhir Kaushik, Co-founder and CFO, Taxspanner.com on documents that are a must in hand. “Keeping documents like Form 16, Form 26AS and home or education loan certificates for obtaining deductions would ensure that your tax filing is hassle-free and complete,” Kaushik said.

 

Here are a list of documents that Kaushik says one should be ready with while filing tax returns:

 

Form-16 and Form-16A

Form-16 is the most basic source of information about the income earned and the tax deducted from your salary during the year. In case you have worked for more than one employer during the financial year 2015-16 then you must collect your Form 16 from all of them. Form 16-A form is also called a Tax Deducted at Source (TDS) certificate and is issued by banks for interest income, capital gains of NRIs, etc. If you have rental income and your landlord has deducted TDS on rent then you should collect Form-16A from the landlord too. Similarly, if you have any commission or professional income, TDS certificate for the same should also be collected.

 

Form-26AS

Your income from all sources, tax deductions and any high-value transaction(s) are reported in this form. I-T department sends notices if the ITR filed by the taxpayer does not match with the information available in Form-26AS. You should get your Form 26AS and match details with your ITR before filing it. If there is some mismatch, you should fix those errors and then file your return. You can download Form-26AS from your net banking account, directly from income-tax department’s website.

 

Bank statements from all bank accounts

You should verify that all the bank transactions carried out during the financial year with respect to income earned, investments made, expenses etc. have been declared in the appropriate sections of your return. This would show dividend income or gifts received above Rs 50,000 on which tax needs to be paid.

 

Home/education loan interest certificates

If you have taken any home/education loan then collect their interest certificate from the lender to claim the right deduction.

 

Investment proofs not submitted to employer

It is possible that some of the investments made by you during the financial year have not been included in the Form-16 issued to you. For example, if you invested in tax-saving tools such as life insurance, Public Provident Fund after proof submission deadline set by your employer, proofs of these investments would not have been submitted to your employer. For such investments, you need to have the proofs for reference while preparing your return.

 

Share/mutual fund transaction statements

These are required to enter details like sale date, purchase date, quantity and amount for computing capital gains/loss.

 

Tax payment challan(s)

If you have paid advance tax and/or self assessment tax then you need to enter the details of the same in your return for accurate computation of tax liability.

Source: http://www.financialexpress.com/article/personal-finance/income-tax-returns-filing-date-july-31-nears-7-documents-to-be-kept-ready/277141/

E-filing of tax returns via ATM

by | posted in: Corporate Updates, Economy, Business Updates, Corporate Affairs, Income Tax,e-Filing- Individuals, Firms, Companies | 0

The Income Tax department has launched an ATM-based validation system for filing e-ITRs by taxpayers as part of its measure to enhance the paperless regime of filing the annual IT returns.

“Now, Electronic Verification Code (EVC) can be generated by pre-validating your Automated Teller Machine (ATM) provided by the bank where a taxpayer has an account. While SBI has activated the facility beginning yesterday, other banks will follow soon,” a senior IT official said.

Last month, the department had launched the bank account based validation facility in this regard for those who have not availed internet banking facility. The new facility is available on the official e-filing portal of the department – http://incometaxindiaefiling.gov.in/ and will work by using the One Time Password verification system as activated by the department last year by using the Aadhaar number.

Source: http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/economy/policy/efiling-of-tax-returns-via-atm/article8693669.ece

Filing tax returns on time has benefits

by | posted in: Corporate & Business Advisory Services, Corporate Updates, Economy, Business Updates, Corporate Affairs, Income Tax,e-Filing- Individuals, Firms, Companies | 0

With the income tax department allowing ample time for filing returns, many taxpayers take it easy.

For the income earned in the past financial year (FY16), a taxpayer can file returns up to March 2018. However, sticking to the first deadline of July 31 has its benefits.

Say, you make a mistake while filing returns – it can be a wrong computation or incorrect bank account details.

If you file returns on time, the income tax (I-T) department will allow you to revise it as many times as you wish until the end of the assessment year.

In case of belated filing, the taxpayer loses this advantage.

“Not being able to revise returns can lead to problems. For example, in case of wrong computation, the department can send a notice. Incorrect bank account details can delay refunds,” says Vikram Ramchand, founder, Makemyreturns.com.

Missing the first deadline also means that the taxpayer cannot carry forward certain losses.

The Income Tax Act allows individuals to carry forward losses under the ‘capital gains’ head and also business losses for professionals and businesspersons.

These can be adjusted against the future gains for up to eight years.

Due to the correction in stock market in the last financial year, many investors would have suffered a loss in their equity trade.

Filing returns on time can help them utilise these losses in the coming years.

“The only loss that’s allowed to be carry forward for latecomers is the loss from house property,” says Ramchand.

This is the deduction that a person gets on the interest portion of a home loan under Section 24.

Though the deduction can be claimed in the subsequent year, the total limit for deduction will remain Rs 2 lakh for first-time home buyers. In case of a house property that’s not self-occupied, the entire interest can be claimed as deduction.

For those filing belated returns, they will also need to shell out a penalty.

There will be a one per cent penalty every month under Section 234A on the liability if the return is not filed on time, according to Kuldip Kumar, partner and leader (personal tax) at PwC India.

Professionals and businesspersons will also need to pay one per cent penal interest per month under Section 234B, if 90 per cent of the tax is not paid by March 31.

If you don’t file returns at all, there are provisions in the I-T Act that say if the tax due is more than Rs 3,000, the taxpayer can be prosecuted and jailed.

Ramchand says that in his experience, he has also seen that those who file returns on time get faster refunds and their filing is processed quickly, too.

Last year, many taxpayers who filed before the deadline got refunds within a fortnight, according to Ramchand.

However, in case of belated filing, the processing and returns are both delayed – it can easily take six to eight months.

Also, those filing belated returns usually see that their refund amount is adjusted against some pending tax demand of the past, according to tax experts.

Although this is not a rule, tax experts say such cases of adjustments are higher for those filing belated returns.

PwC’s Kumar points out that in the recent Union Budget, the period of filing returns has been reduced from two years to one year.

Taxpayers will need to file returns before the end of the relevant assessment year.

This will apply from the next assessment year.

Therefore, it’s beneficial, one should start filing returns on time to avoid hassles later.

Read Source: Rediff.com

Income Tax return is not considered filed unless it’s e-verified

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Several taxpayers diligently file their tax returns but forget to e-verify them.

They believe their return filing process is complete once return has been duly submitted to the income tax department.

 

Your income tax (I-T) return submission is not complete unless you’ve ticked off the e-verification with the following steps :

 

Step 1: You have e-filed your tax return

 

Step 2: You have e-verified the return

 

Step 3: Final return processing by the tax department i.e. refund is processed or intimation under Section 143(1) is received.

 

Taxpayers who do not verify end up with incomplete filings. A refund, if any, is not processed in such cases.

 

Returns can be verified either electronically or by sending the physical ITR-V to CPC, Bengaluru. ITR-V is a one-page document, emailed by the I-T department to you; it can also be downloaded from the department’s website. ITR-V must be signed in blue ink and sent via ordinary or speed post to CPC, Bengaluru. You cannot courier the ITR-V. Sending the physical ITR-V involved a lot of problems. With the introduction of electronic verification, your return can now be verified easily and quickly.

 

There are several ways to verify your tax returns. To begin, log in to your e-filing account with your PAN and date of birth. Click on ‘e-File’ from the blue top bar. There is an option under it, ‘e-Verify Return’; select it. Select one of the options listed to e-verify.

 

EVC sent to registered email ID and mobile number

 

This option is available to taxpayers who have a total income of less than R5 lakh and there is no refund. A 10-digit alphanumeric code is sent to their email id and mobile number, registered on the tax department website, which is valid for 72 hours.

 

EVC via Aadhaar OTP

 

If you don’t have a refund, you can also e-verify via an Aadhaar OTP. Your Aadhaar card must be linked to your PAN on the e-filing website. The OTP is sent to your mobile number registered with Aadhaar and is valid for 10 minutes.

 

EVC through net banking

 

Those with an income of over R5 lakh, or with a refund, have to use net banking to e-verify returns. If your bank is authorised, you’ll be able to log in to e-filing through net banking. First, log in to your bank account and look for the e-filing option. When you confirm to e-verify, an EVC will be automatically generated and applied to the return; your e-verification will be complete. Don’t assume the refund will be credited to the net banking account you have used to e-verify. It is credited to the account selected for refund in your tax return, which may be different from the account you used to e-verify.

 

EVC through bank account number

 

You can also verify your tax return through your bank account number by logging in to the income tax department website. Your bank account number must be pre-validated. To validate, you have to select your bank name, enter the bank account number, IFSC and mobile number, and validate it on the income tax department website.

 

The department has issued a circular giving a final chance to taxpayers to put their past tax returns in order. If you had submitted your tax return for the past six years from AY 2009-10 to AY 2014-15, but the return could not be processed for want of ITR-V, you can e-verify it by August 31, 2016. The department shall process such returns by November 30. This will help put your past records in order.

E-filing of tax returns jumps 68.5% in April, 2016

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E-filing of tax returns witnessed a jump of 68.5% in the first month of the current fiscal year with over 8.32 lakh assessees filing ITRs electronically.

The number of e-filed returns recorded in April 2015-16 stood at 4.94 lakh. In all, 4.33 crore returns were electronically filed last fiscal.

As per the data of Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT), a total of 8,32,499 assessees have filed returns in April 2016.

Unlike previous year, the CBDT had operationalised all the nine types of Income Tax Returns (ITRs) filed by different types of assesses from this fiscal.

Over the years, the e-filing process has been simplified and assessees can file returns even from the comfort of their homes.

As per the CBDT, there were over 5.25 crore registered users (on April 30, 2016) and about 49.54% of the returns were received outside office hours. Also, 35.27% of assesses used the utility provided by the department.

An online ‘tax calculator’ for filers is meant to help taxpayers assess tax liability.

Divya Baweja, Partner, Deloitte Haskins and Sells LLP said during the initial years, e-filing was considered to be an onerous task, but now the process has become a “simple affair”.

“In recent years, tax department has made a conscious effort to ease the e-filing procedure by simplifying the tax return forms and introducing tax utilities which automatically picks data from previous year’s tax return/tax credit statement, thereby making it much easier for a common individual to file his or her tax return,” she said.

The CBDT had notified the new forms on March 30, and ITRs can be filed till the stipulated deadline of July 31.

The data further said during April, the maximum returns were filed from Maharashtra followed by Gujarat, Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh.

People with an income of more than Rs 50 lakh per annum and who own luxury items like yacht, aircraft or valuable jewellery will have to disclose these expensive assets with the IT department in the new ITRs.

Last year, the e-filing commenced on July 1 following the controversy over a 14-page form requiring assessees to disclose bank account and foreign travel details.

Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/business/india-business/E-filing-of-tax-returns-jumps-68-5-in-April/articleshow/52277938.cms