Filing your income tax return (ITR) can seem daunting, but it’s a vital task for ensuring your financial health and compliance with Indian law. Whether you are a salaried employee, a freelancer, or a business owner, understanding the process and doing it correctly is crucial. Here's a detailed, step-by-step guide to help you file your income tax return in India in 2024. Step 1: Understand Your Income Sources The first step in filing your ITR is to identify all your income sources. Indian tax laws classify income into five main heads: Salary Income: This includes your basic salary, allowances and any other perks from your employer. Income from House Property: Earnings from renting out property or housing loans. Profits and Gains from Business or Profession: If you’re self-employed, a freelancer, or run a business. Capital Gains: Profits from selling assets like stocks, mutual funds, or real estate. Income from Other Sources: Includes interest from savings accounts, fixed deposits, dividends, etc. Taking the time to correctly identify and classify your income can make the entire filing process easier. Step 2: Gather Essential Documents Having all the necessary documents handy before you start will save time and prevent errors. Here are the key documents you’ll need: Form 16: This form, provided by your employer, details your salary and the tax deducted at source (TDS). Form 16A/16B/16C: TDS certificates for income other than salary. Form 26AS: An annual tax statement that consolidates all tax-related information. Bank Statements: To track your interest income and other transactions. Investment Proofs: Documents related to tax-saving investments (like PPF, NSC, ELSS). Loan Statements: For claiming deductions on home loan interest and principal repayment. Capital Gains Statements: For calculating capital gains tax. Other Relevant Documents: Any other documents supporting your income or deductions. Step 3: Choose the Right ITR Form Selecting the appropriate ITR form is crucial. The form you choose depends on your income sources and taxpayer category: ITR-1 (Sahaj): For individuals with income up to ₹50 lakh from salary, one house property, and other sources. ITR-2: For individuals and HUFs (Hindu Undivided Families) who do not have income from business or profession. ITR-3: For individuals and HUFs with income from a proprietary business or profession. ITR-4 (Sugam): For individuals, HUFs and firms (other than LLP) opting for the presumptive income scheme. ITR-5: For partnership firms, LLPs, associations of persons (AOP) and bodies of individuals (BOI). ITR-6: For companies other than those claiming exemption under Section 11. ITR-7: For persons including companies required to furnish returns under specific sections like charitable trusts. Step 4: Register/Login to the Income Tax e-Filing Portal Visit the Income Tax Department’s e-filing portal (https://www.incometax.gov.in/iec/foportal) and either register if you’re a new user or login if you already have an account. Ensure your profile is up-to-date with the correct email address and mobile number for communication. Step 5: Download Form 26AS Form 26AS is your consolidated tax statement. It includes details of all taxes deposited against your PAN. Verify it carefully to ensure all [...]

Introduction Every Person who draws any income from any source is required to give a little amount of it to the government authority for the welfare and interest of India. The Government collects this sum and uses it in the best interest of the people of society via constructing Schools, Hospital, Roads, providing Subsidy Scheme, Health and Welfare Schemes etc. this little amount paid by the person to the government is called Tax.Income Tax Return is a form by which a person intimates to the government about his income during the particular financial year. The applicability of tax is governed by the provision of Income Tax Act, 1961 and is applicable to whole of India. Further, the Return is a simplified return which can be even filed by the person himself. However, to claim exemption and deduction allowed by the Government, it is necessary to know the correct provision or one need to take help of an expert so as to file a correct return. Filling of return can be sum up into 6 easy steps Kept the following below mentioned documents ready: Form 16A/ TDS Certificates or Salary Slip; Form 26AS; Investment and saving details, details of savings claimed; Details of income from capital gain, profit from business and -profession and other income; Details of tax paid; All bank account details with Bank Name, Account Number and IFSC code. Log-In to Income Tax Portal: Login to the Income Tax Portal and select the relevant form depending on the source of income and the amount of income earned. To know about the form, please go through our previous articles named as All About Income Tax Return and How to File Income Tax Return without Form 16and their respective URL’s are https://complianceship.com/2018/07/08/all-about-income-tax-return-itr/ and https://complianceship.com/2018/07/12/how-to-file-income-tax-return-without-form-16/ Calculation of Tax Liability/ Amount of Refund etc.: After filling the necessary details about the income and deduction, the form automatically calculates the tax liability/ amount of refund/ no refund, as the case may be. Pay your Self Assessment Tax, if any. Kindly ensure to clear all tax liability before filling return. Submit of Form: Before submission, kindly cross check all details to avoid revision or income tax scrutiny. Verify your ITR: Once submitted, the return will not be processed unless verified by the person. Once the return is processed, the refund, if any, shall be credited to the bank account of the person as stated in the return. Please go through our previous post in this respect on www.complianceship.com which is named as 6 Easy Way to verify yourIncome Tax Return  and the url of the same is https://complianceship.com/2018/07/11/6-easy-way-to-verify-your-income-tax-return/ Disclaimer: This Blog/ Post/ Article or Content etc. is made available by the ComplianceShip solely for educational purpose and to give general information of a particular topic or updates and an understanding of the law, not intending to provide specific legal advice, by using this, you understand that there is no attorney client relationship between us.

Introduction July month of every year is the year when everybody is busy filing his Income Tax Return (ITR) before the due date i.e. 31 July 2018. From the month of June, all the salaried person starts approaching their Account and HR Department for their Form 16, which would help them to file their Income Tax Return successfully. However, sometimes the situation is such that they don’t get their Form 16 within the time period, either due ramp down of the business or employee had left the organization without completing all the exit formalities. Then in such a scenario, employees are advised not to worry about that, as there are other alternatives which can be used for filing of their Income Tax Return. Below is the list of Document/ Information which can be used while not having Form 16 for the filing of ITR: Calculate Income from Salary For all the salaried person, their salary slip, as provided by the HR Department, is the main source of information. So it is advisable to all the employees to collect their monthly salary slip in a regular manner. With effect from 1 April 2018, complete salary break up details is required to be mentioned in the IT Return. The fields which required to be filed are salary, pension, allowances not exempted, profit in lieu of salary, deduction claimed under section 16 and value of perquisites etc and the salary slip normally contains all these things. Further, sometime the companies do not mention the amount of profit in lieu of salary and value of perquisites, in such cases, employees are advised to connect with their HR or Account Department and get the details of the same in writing. It is further advisable to the employees to make the list of allowances as this help them in reducing their tax liability like transport allowance, HRA, LTA etc. however, while making list, be careful, as some of the allowances are partially exempt and some of are full. Cross check TDS amount deducted with Form 26AS: Form 26AS show all the details of TDS deducted. Just like Form 16A gives a break of salary paid by the employer along with TDS deducted by the employer, Form 26 show the break up of income booked by the all other parties from whom income is earned and the amount of tax paid on our behalf by all such party. It not only shows the TDS deducted on the salary of an employee but all state other income like TDS on Fixed Deposit (FDs). It is very important to cross check your TDS amount with the amount as shown in the Form 26AS and in case of any discrepancies, the person needs to contact to the deductor and get it corrected. Check Income from Capital Gain: Details of capital gain from the sale of shares, mutual funds need to be calculated after getting the summary account statement from stock Broker. Further, in case there is a capital gain from the sale [...]

Introduction July month of every year is the high time, being the last month, of filling of Income Tax Return. The IT Return filed after 31st July 2018 would attract a penalty which may be extended up to Rs. 10,000/-. It is pertinent to note that even with the late penalty Income Tax Return can be filed only up to 31st March of the forthcoming year. Thereafter it would not be possible for the person/ assessee to file his/ her return. So it is vital for the person to file their return within the stipulated time period before it is too late. But before filling of Income Tax Return, it is necessary to understand its Meaning, Necessity, Applicability, Basic Requirement, Time of Filling and Mode of Filling of Return. Let’s check out them step by step. Meaning Every person who earns income is required to pay a small amount out of his total income to the Government for the welfare and betterment of society. The Government collects this sum and uses it for the welfare of the people by constructing Schools, Hospital, Roads, providing Subsidy Scheme, Health and Welfare Schemes etc. The small amount so paid directly by the person to the Government against his/ her Income is called Tax. Income Tax Return is a form by which a person intimates to the government about his income during the particular financial year. The applicability of tax is governed by the provision of Income Tax Act, 1961 and is applicable to the whole of India. Percentage of Tax to be payable by any person is elaborated below: Minimum Limit (in Rs.) Individual less than 60 years of age Individuals who are of 60 years or more Individuals who are of 80 years or more HUF   Association of Person Artificial judicial person 0-2,50,000 Nil Nil Nil Nil Nil Nil 2,50,001-3,00,000 5% Nil Nil 5% 5% 5% 3,00,001-5,00,000 5% 5% Nil 5% 5% 5% 5,00,001-10,00,000 20% 20% 20% 20% 20% 20% Above 10,00,000 30% 30% 30% 30% 30% 30% Rebate under Section 87A is available to a resident individual if his total income does not exceed Rs. 3,50,000. The amount of rebate shall be 100% of income-tax or Rs. 2,500, whichever is less. The surcharge is applicable only if:- total income is  Rs. 50,00,001-1,00,00,000 @10% of such tax total income exceeds Rs. 1,00,00,000 @15% of such tax However, this surcharge shall be subject to marginal relief, i.e. the total amount payable as income-tax and surcharge shall not exceed the total amount payable as income-tax on the total income Education Cess (EC) shall be charged @2% of Tax and Surcharge Secondary and Higher Education Cess (SHEC) shall be charged @1% of Tax and Surcharge Applicability The provision of Section 139A of the Income-tax Act state that the following personnel are required to file an Income Tax Return: Earning of Individual: Person having total income(i.e. gross income without any deduction) more than the amount chargeable to tax (the current limit is Rs. 2,50,000/- P.A.) Earning of [...]

Last night, the most awaited update from Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has come wherein the date of linking of PAN with the Aadhar Card has been extended upto 31 March 2019. This is the 5th time when the government has extended this date for individuals to link their Permanent Account Number to their Aadhar Card. Last Night, the policy making authority of Income Tax Department had taken this decision and extended this date upto 31 March 2019. It can be easily understood that this fresh Income Tax Department updates has come against the backdrop of the Supreme Court order earlier this year directing extension of 31 March 2018 deadline for linking Aadhar card with various other services. The Indian Government has made Aadhar card mandatory for filing of Income tax return and obtaining new pan card. According to the updates till March 2018, over 16.64 crore PANs, out of total about 33 Crore, have been linked with the Aadhar Card.