File Income Tax Return

DOES EVERYONE NEED TO FILE AN INCOME TAX RETURN IN INDIA?

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FILE AN INCOME TAX RETURN IN INDIA

Do you know why people fear income tax men, because they will not spare you if you evade taxes or try to commit some acts which are against income tax rules? Fines, penalties and even imprisonment are the results of not being income tax law abiding person.

Whether business or personal, one ensures accurate maintenance of records, filing income tax returns, and following all compliances prescribed under income tax laws. In this article, we will keep our focus on who needs to file income tax returns, when, and what are the consequences of not filing income tax returns.

Not everyone is required to file an income tax return in India. Generally, if your total income for the year doesn’t exceed prescribed thresholds, then you don’t need to file Income tax return in India.

There are various forms of income tax return available at the Governments website however the type of income tax return you should select depends on the type of income. Since online income tax filing is possible therefore, efiling income tax in India can be done from anywhere in the world

Who needs to file an Income tax Return in India?

–          If your gross total income (excluding deductions) exceeds the basic exemption limit of income above which tax is charged, you need to file ITR. We have listed income tax slabs and information on new tax regime that Finance minister introduced in budget 2020

–          Even if income is below the limit, in certain scenarios filing ITR is mandatory. Like people spending more than INR 2 lakh on a foreign trip, withdrawing more than INR1cr in a year in a bank account or paying power bill of more than INR 1 lakh in a year

–           If you wish to apply for visa or a loan

–           If the taxpayer is a company or a firm, irrespective of profit or loss.

–          Irrespective of your income, you may have a situation where you need to claim tax refunds, in that case it is mandatory to file a tax return. Government cannot return your tax refund in any other manner. Similarly to carry forward losses filing tax returns is mandatory.

–          If you have invested in any foreign asset or have earned out of any asset in foreign or who has signing authority in a foreign bank account is also required to file ITR, irrespective of income threshold.

Income Tax Slabs & Rates 2020-2021

The Finance Minister introduced a new tax regime in Union Budget, 2020 wherein there is an option for individuals and HUF (Hindu Undivided Family) to pay taxes at lower rates without claiming deductions under various sections. Here is the new rate for FY 2019-20 or AY 2020-21:

Income tax Slab (in INR)Tax Rate
Up to 2.5 LakhNIL
2.5 Lakh to 5 Lakh5% (12,500 rebate u/s 87A available)
5 Lakh to 7.5 Lakh10%
7.5 Lakh to 10 Lakh15%
10 Lakh to 12.5Lakh20%
15.5 Lakh to 15 Lakh25%
15 Lakh and above30%

–          The tax calculated on the basis of such rates will be subject to health and education cess of 4%.

–          Any individual opting to be taxed under the new tax regime from FY 2020-21 onwards cannot claim certain exemptions and deductions. Therefore one needs to make their own calculation as per old and new tax regime and calculate which one is beneficial based on the type of investments made and returns earned on those investments. Best way is to take professional advisory, for that you find a chartered accountant online who can advise you.

New tax regime slab rates are not differentiated based on age group unlike in past years. Like if the financial year 2018-19 limit was INR 2.5 lakh for general categories. INR 3 Lakh for individuals between the age of 60 years but less than 80 years and for individuals aged above 80 years, the exemption limit was INR  5 lakh.

Below is the example on how your tax could be compared if you opt for e filing income tax under a new regime for this AY 2020-21


Let’s take an example of an individual here aged 40 years has the total income of INR 11, 00,000 and investments made are: 80C of INR 1, 50,000 and under Section 80CCD of INR 50,000. He has claimed income tax deduction with medical and Leave travel allowance of INR 50000 and HRA of INR 1, 50,000 The tax payable under new and old tax regime is as follows:

ParticularsNew system (in INR)Old System(in INR)
Gross total income11,00,00011,00,000
Less: Deductions under 80C0150000
Less: Standard Deduction (Medical & Travel Allowance)050000
Less: Deductions under 80CCD050000
Less : HRA deduction as per section 10(13A)0150000
Taxable Income1100000700000
TAXES PAYABLE AS PER SLAB RATES  
0-25000000
250000-5000001250012500
500000-7500002500040000
750000-1000000375000
1000000-1250000200000
TOTAL TAXES9500052500

Income tax return filing due date:

The due date for filing income tax returns depends on the type of business you have or the category of taxpayer you are. Normally the due date is the time limit by which your income tax returns can be filed without any late fee or penalty. The taxpayers filing their return beyond such due date will have to pay interest and penalty under prescribed section of income tax laws.

Here are the due dates for AY 2020-21

CategoryDue date
Individual/HUF/AOP/BOI31st July,2020
Business (Audit not required)31st July,2020
Business (Audit required)30th  Sep,2020
Business (TP report required)30th  Nov,2020

FAQ’s

Is online income tax filing mandatory?

Yes it is mandatory to file the income tax returns online for all the registered taxpayers. However, manual income tax returns can be filed by those who are above 80 years of age and do not have any income from regular business or profession.

How to claim tax refund online?

The Income tax department doesn’t automatically issue refunds without a tax return, so if you want to claim any tax refund due to you, then you should go for online income tax filing

Remember, with CaonWEB income tax filing services, we’ll ask you simple questions and determine the best filing method for you.  We’ll find every tax deduction and credit you qualify for to get you the best tax refund.

What are the steps to file my Income Tax return for online income tax filing or efiling income tax?

–          Collect required documents such as TDS certificates (Form16/16A), capital gains statements
Download and check Form 26AS.Chartered accountants advise that one should keep track of your Form 26AS during the financial year to avoid any discrepancies at time of filing ITR.

–          Compute total income for the related financial year. Total income is computed by adding incomes from different heads and claiming all the relevant deductions allowed under the Income-Tax Act and setting off losses, if any. Go for professional advice if you are not aware of such things. Take help by searching for an online chartered accountant near you .

–          Calculate final tax payable, if any

–          Deduct the taxes that have been already paid by you through tax deducted at source, TCS and Advance Tax during the year.

–          File ITR after all taxes are paid

–          The last step is Verification of ITR, There are 6 ways to verify your Income Tax Return.


Click here to see how to e-verify income tax return

–          Once the IT Return is processed, the I-T department inform the same to you via email to your registered email ID. In case any error are found, they may ask you to explain further or correct the mistakes made while filing the original ITR.

How do I pay taxes online while efiling income tax?

Refer this link of the Government https://onlineservices.tin.egov-nsdl.com/etaxnew/tdsnontds.jsp

Consult an online chartered accountant if you have any confusion.

What are the disadvantages of not filing income tax return?

 If you file your ITR after the due date but before 31 December, a penalty of Rs 5000 will be levied. For returns filed later than 31 December 2020, the penalty levied will be increased to Rs.10,000. However for small taxpayers, the Government gives some relief, as per income tax department if the total income does not exceed Rs 5 lakh, the maximum penalty levied for delay will be Rs 1000 for small taxpayers. Small tax payers here means having income less than 5 Lakh in a year.

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10 COMMON CHALLENGES FACED DURING ITR FILING

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Today’s Blog features the challenges faced by an assessee while filing an ITR:

1.     Which ITR forms to file?

In general, Seven (7) ITR filing forms are issued by the Income tax department and its applicability depends on your revenue sources. The number of forms will vary depending on the sources of your Income. In most cases a salaried individual the basic ITR form is ITR-1. There are however certain requirements that a person must fulfill in order to be eligible for ITR-1 filing. This is why understanding the income tax slabs and knowing which ITR form you need to fill becomes the need of the hour. This is the situation where you need to consult a chartered accountant/ITR Filing consultant who will guide yours throughout.

2.     Accuracy of the data

Although the e-filing process has been simplified over the years to a great extent, the official website of the income tax department still requires you to enter the income details manually. Also, the ITR forms carry a number of rows and columns to be filled by the taxpayer.

There is a standard format in which the taxpayers are required to fill in the information. There are high chances of taxpayers entering inaccurate information and thus making mistakes. After selecting the “ITR filing”, fill the form with the required details correctly by giving it a recheck. Most people ignore the accuracy of the basic details.

3.     Accuracy of computing Income tax

There are many income tax slabs & Income tax exemptions under the heads of employment, and taxes from which deductions and exemptions are permitted. For example, you can receive revenue from several sources, such as fixed-deposit interest, household rental income, savings account interest, short-term/long-term income, etc. So, keeping a track of income from different sources to compute taxable income can become complicated.

4.     Tax deducted at source (TDS)

During ITR filing, the TDS should ideally have to be the same in Form 26AS and Form 16 or 16A. There are several reasons because of which there is a mismatch in the automatically generated details of Form16 & Form 26AS. For instance, if the employer has not deposited the amount with the tax department on time, it is likely that the TDS details mentioned in Form 16 will not match with Form 26AS and so on.

You must also know that the TDS is not the only deductible from your salary but also from other incomes such as interest income from fixed deposits. Therefore, if the details entered by you in the ITR filing form do not match with Form 26AS, the Income tax return filed can be termed incorrect.

5.     Login credentials

Many taxpayers are entirely dependent on qualified chartered accountants who are responsible for ITR filing. The CAs also run their ITR accounts much of the time. If your CA connection is broken or the records of the CA are erased/lost then how can you access your account? It’s a must know your User ID (which is your PAN number) and password.

Besides this, many of us appear to forget the password of our e-filing account, as the account is only accessed once a year. In such a long time, taxpayers usually forget the password for their account. In a scenario like this, recovering the account can become a difficult process.


6.     Investment declaration

Investment the declaration is something that will provide you a safety net and save onto your income tax for the corresponding financial year. Various investment options mentioned under section 80C of the Income tax act, 1961 helps you as a rational income taxpayer to save your income tax by parking your extra funds in some the productive side where it will grow and your income tax liability will also come down.

7.     Claiming deduction/exemption

You can save tax by claiming deductions up to Rs 1.5 lakh in a financial year under section 80C of the Income-tax Act, 1961. Several other financial products that allow section 80C benefit or by way of specified expenses like paying your child’s tuition fee, etc.

Any contributions made by an individual towards NPS is allowed as a deduction under section 80CCD (1) up to Rs 1.5 lakh. However, if you make an additional Rs 50,000 donation to NPS (over and above the Rs 1.5 lakh limit) it can be claimed as a deduction under section 80CCD (1B). And the total deduction you can assert for NPS contributions is Rs 2 lakh under two different parts of the income tax law.

Similarly, you can claim the amount charged to the insurer as a deduction under section 80D for a health insurance policy. There are several other eligible deductions available under Section 80 which you might not be aware of and can become a challenging task for you when it comes to doing proper tax-saving calculations at the time of ITR filing.

8.     Missing on the due date

ITR filing due date is much important because of the penalty associated with it are much more complex. So it is must that you must have a reliable & experienced chartered accountant on your side who will help you in all ITR filing due dates & lets you focus your focus on your business growth.

9.      The Multiplicity of Form 16S

Often it can become difficult to file your ITR if you have switched jobs during the financial year and invested money regularly during the year in different tax-saving products. ITR Filing Returns with multiple Form 16s can be a bit challenging.

It’s common for people to switch jobs during the financial year going after better pay or better work. When you change your job in the middle of a financial year, it is very likely to happen that you end up with multiple form 16s. During such situations, the tax calculations need to be performed while considering different form 16 documents.

Income tax Filing with multiple Form 16s can be problematic due to which the taxpayers are often confused and are not sure about what to do.

10.             Finding a Reliable ITR filing Expert

For every ITR filing expert, it is important to understand under which income tax slabs an individual falls under and rest the ITR filing expert will figure out how to manage & fix onto income tax of an individual. Saving on the income tax is an art as well as science which an ITR filing expert is good at.

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