Before filing income tax return, some basic things must be kept in mind so that there is no problem in future. Before filing income tax return, also know about TDS and TCS.
As the last date for filing ITR is approaching, taxpayers are busy finalizing their documents. Although many people expect that the income tax return filing limit will be increased, but our advice is not to wait till the last date to file returns. If you have all the required documents, why wait till the last day? Filing of returns has become very easy now. If you have all the documents then this whole process does not take more than 30 minutes. But before filing the return, you need to keep a few things in mind. So that you will not face any problem in future.
Obtain Form 16 or 16A for Salary Breakup
Salaried taxpayers have to obtain Form 16 or 16A from their employer before filing the return. In the tax documents, the taxpayer has to give the details of his salary, in which various sources of income are mentioned. You have to mention Basic Pay, HRA and other allowances like LTA and Dress Allowance etc. In many cases, you will not find a detailed breakup of salary in Form 16, but only the total salary mentioned. The taxpayer has to declare his basic salary by deducting the amount claimed for various exemptions from the total salary. The amount that you show as final salary corresponds to income Form 16 or 16A. Certain exemptions like HRA can be claimed at the time of filing the return, even if it is not mentioned in Form 16. If the income, exemptions and deductions declared in your tax return match with Form 16, then your ITR is processed without any problems.
You must file a tax return if…
Your gross income (before deductions and exemptions) exceeds the basic exemption limit of Rs 2.5 lakh. It is Rs 3 lakh for senior citizens and Rs 5 lakh for super-senior citizens under the old tax regime.
Your total sales, turnover or gross receipts in the business exceeds Rs.60 lakhs.
Your total gross receipts exceed Rs 10 lakh.
You spent more than Rs 2 lakh on foreign travel.
You deposited Rs 50 lakh in savings account or Rs 1 crore in current account.
Your electricity bill is more than Rs 1 lakh.
You have foreign assets.
Your TDS or TCS was Rs 25,000 (Rs 50,000 for senior citizens) or more. You have to claim refund of TDS or TCS paid.
Check TDS, TCS details in Form 26AS
Check whether all taxes deducted from you have been credited to your account. Form 26AS contains the details of all payments and TDS to you. It also includes TDS on interest and dividends earned from deposits and bonds. It will also contain the details of Tax Taxed at Source (TCS). TCS is levied on money transactions abroad or purchase of foreign currency. This TCS can be adjusted against the taxes deposited by you. You can view your Form 26AS through the Income Tax portal or through your net banking account. Make sure to check whether TDS and TCS deductions are mentioned correctly or not. If any TDS or TCS has not been deposited to you, contact the deductor immediately. The deductor itself may not have deposited TDS or TCS. It may also happen that TDS has been deposited but not yet filed. It can also happen due to wrong PAN or wrong amount in TDS statement. It takes around 7-10 days for correction in Form 26AS, so action should be taken immediately if the mistake is detected.
Before filing the return, also check whether the details of TDS and TCS match with the Annual Income Certificate (ASI). AIS is a comprehensive description of all financial transactions carried out by an individual. It contains details of income received from various sources (including salary, profession, rent, interest, etc.). It also gets to know where, how much invested and spent by a person during the year.