Simple ways to file income tax return in India

Simple ways to file income tax return in India

Each citizen in our country gets pre occupied every year when they file income tax return. Tax Filing is not necessarily a difficult process to comprehend. It primarily involves a procedure where one needs to disclose their income and taxes paid by them to the government. Primarily, filing tax return enables us to declare our annual income, as well as keeps a record of the amount of tax money one paid. Moreover, it guarantees that all previous dues had been cleared by the taxpayer. The dead line to submit the investment proofs in order to claim tax returns was 31st January 2017. In case of investments made under Section 80C, the deadline was 31st March 2017. The last date for filing tax returns was 5th August. However, a time span from October to November is there to verify the tax return.

The Income Tax Scenario in India

In India, two types of tax are presently executed. These are: When a tax is paid on the income absolutely to the government, then such a tax is referred as Direct Tax. However, the tax imposed on eateries, theatres, e-commerce websites and more, along with the goods and service they provide is referred as an indirect tax. Thereafter, the generated tax money is forwarded to the government. Indirect taxes exist in the form of: However, after the introduction of GST, there now exists a unified tax system. GST does not demand multiple tax returns. As a result, a person engaged in more than one business is not required to file a separate return; rather a single GST return will successfully serve all the purposes.

1. Direct Tax
2. Indirect Tax
3. Service tax
4. Value added tax or VAT

What happens after income tax return is filed?

1. There is a way to verify whether the tax deducted has been credited to the tax payer’s PAN. The tax deducted by the employer will reflect in Form 16, but to make sure that all other taxes have also been credited to the PAN, the taxpayer needs to check out Form 26AS online. In the case of any inconsistency, the deductor should be immediately notified and the mistake should be rectified.
2. When an income tax return is filed, the CPC, Income Tax Department analyzes it. Afterwards, when the assessee realizes that some income was not reported, it is possible to file a rectification request.
3. Any company irrespective of its domain - public, private, foreign or domestic is entitled to file a Mandatory return. Moreover, any firm whether- Limited Liability Partnerships (LLP) or Unlimited Liability Partnerships is also required to do the same. Return of Income is mandatory and needs to be filed in the case of a person whose taxable income exceeds Rs. 2, 50,000/- in a particular financial year. Section 139 of the Income Tax Act 1961 manages the variety of returns to be filed against the person or any organization for that matter, who has not filed tax returns before the expiry of the prescribed deadline. As per the rules, for senior citizens (above 60) the basic exemption limit is Rs 3 lakh and Rs 5 lakh for very senior citizens (above 80).

Types of Income Tax Return

There are various income tax return types, namely Individuals, who are salaried employees having, one house property and other sources like interest and so on, choose ITR 1 (SAHAJ), for filing their tax return. Income Tax Form ITR 4 forms are used by proprietorship firms. This type is suitable for individuals and Hindu Undivided Families earning from a proprietary business. However, Income Tax Form ITR 5 is used by most partnership firms. Companies such as private limited company, public limited company and other for-profit companies choose Income Tax Form ITR 6. Political parties along with new agencies, universities, and other entities in receipt of income from property held in trust for charitable or religious purposes resort to Income Tax Form ITR 7. However, income tax return filing is more of an obligation, precisely a legal one. Additionally fulfilling this obligation can benefit in various situations. For instance, one can claim higher insurance cover, or avail home or personal loans and so on. This legal obligation can also benefit the taxpayer while visa and immigration processing.

1. ITR 1 (SAHAJ)
2. ITR 4, ITR 5
3. ITR 6
4. ITR 7

Documents needed for filing Income Tax Return

When filing income tax return several documents are needed.

1. As per Income Tax Department, salaried employees require Form No.16 to be issued by the tax payer’s employer summarizing their income from salary and tax deducted at source.
2. Additionally, there is Form No 16A which is issued by all the payers who have deducted tax during their transaction with the taxpayer. It also demands account statements of all the accounts operated through the year.
3. Moreover, details about a recently purchased property or existing property on rent along with details about the rent received and receipts of municipal taxes paid during the year need to be disclosed as well.
4. Any documents related to sale & purchase of shares in the existing year is essential for calculating capital gains.
5. In the case of advance tax payments, tax challans need to be revealed.
6. Finally, documents involving tax implications should also be present for quantifying taxes.

Steps involved while filing Tax Returns

The Income Tax Department assures the taxpayers are provided with all the available options to file their tax returns.In addition to this, a number of modifications were made by the authorities. The primary one being linking PAN with Aadhar made compulsory. The returns will be processed by the income tax department only after the two ID proofs are linked and verified. Henceforth, if the taxpayer cannot file tax return themselves, then one should trust their instincts and choose a trustworthy organization to file their returns. The password of e-filing account should be securely kept in case it has been created by the organization recruited by the taxpayer. One should definitely get accustomed to the “simple ways to file income tax return in India”.

1. Firstly, the return can be filed in a paper form.
2. Secondly, in this digital age, IT returns can be filed electronically with a digital signature.
3. Thereafter, this electronically filed and then duly signed Form ITR-V must be submitted in a bar-coded paper format.