Aarush Velaga recently completed one year at his first job. Unlike his colleagues, he is new at filing Income Tax Returns. He is aware that every tax payer in India is required to declare, to the Income Tax Department, at the end of every financial year, in a form that is prescribed by the Government of India, a detailed summary of all the incomes that he/she has earned during the year ended on 31st March.
Though it may be true that one might have declared and paid all the due taxes on their earnings from salary, it is quite possible and likely that one enjoys income from other sources such as the interest on a savings bank account, the dividends from holding shares of companies, the cash incomes that come from a part time job or a small time business or other different sources like royalties, fees or rent, on which, so far no income tax has been deducted.
The Government of India collects the statement of a taxpayer's income in the form of a Tax Return Statement that exists in a prescribed format. Such a statement that is duly signed, furnished and affirmed by an individual as the statement being a complete and true statement of his/her income from the last financial year is known as the Income Tax Return.
Recently this year, the Income Tax authorities in India introduced some new guidelines for filing income tax returns. For example, they have made it obligatory for the businesses to file their income tax returns through the e-form. They had also earlier made it compulsory for taxpayers with annual incomes of above INR 10,00,000 to take the online approach as well. In 2013, the Income Tax authorities decreased the lower income limit for filing e-forms and made e-filing compulsory if the taxable income is over Rs. 5 Lakh per year.
Here's a list of documents that Aarush needs to be ready with, before he files his returns.
1. Permanent Account Number: Knowing your PAN number is the first step towards filing your return. You must cross check your PAN number online with the Income Tax Department before you begin to fill in your Income Tax Return on their website.
2. Form-16: The Form-16 is a form/statement issued by the employer carrying the details of your salary, the amount of taxable salary calculated after extra allowances, the Tax Deduction at Source deducted, the income tax deductions that you claim and the net tax due. Via TDS, the employer must have already deducted and deposited a part of your salary to the Income Tax Department.
3. Balance Confirmation Statements: You must declare all the incomes sourcing from interests earned on bank savings deposits, fixed deposits and debentures in the last financial year in the Income Tax Returns.
4. Certificate of Tax Deducted at Source: After verifying whether TDS has been duly deducted, you must furnish the TDS entries in the Tax Return to decrease the tax liability.
5. Form 26AS: The Form 26AS is a statement of all of your income tax received by the IT Department. It is a statement of tax credit showing voluntary tax payments, in addition to the TDS.
6. Proof of Exempted Investments
> The investments made under LIC, PPF, children's tuition fee are eligible for tax deductions.
> The investments made under LIC, PPF, children's tuition fee are eligible for tax deductions.
> The payment as the principal amount of a housing loan also qualifies for the same with an upper limit of INR 1,00,000. However, if you reside in a house you are paying EMIs for, the EMI amount could be claimed for deduction with an upper cap of INR 1,50,000.
> Donations certified to be in the name of charity can be declared for tax deductions as well. The PAN number of the charitable institution is required too.
> Other Proofs of Investment: The interest you have paid on an education loan for higher studies can be claimed for IT deduction and so can the medical insurance payments for your family and your parents, capital gain on stocks (A Stock Trading Statement is required and has to be tallied with the Brokerage Account) and capital gain on the sale of owned property.
These are the documents and proofs, for claiming Tax Returns with the IT Department in India that are absolutely essential and help ease the process of filing a return.
http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2014-01-27/news/46684774_1_income-tax-department-form-26as-tax-payer
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