It’s that time of year when you have to file your income tax returns. You can get it done with the help of a Charted Accountant or you can e file taxes yourself.
If you want to do income tax e-filing yourself this article will be your helpful guide.
Regardless of your income falling in the taxable slab or not, you must do your income tax filing. Here are the five things to keep in mind when you e file taxes.
1. Changes in Income Tax Return Forms
In order to smooth out the process of income tax filing, the CBDT (Central Board of Direct
Taxes) has made a few amendments in the ITR form. For the assessment year (AY) 2017, there are 7 ITR
forms. It used to be 9 earlier.
3 of the earlier forms— ITR-2A, ITR-2, and ITR-3 have been replaced by ITR-2 form. Accordingly, ITR-4 & ITR-4S have been renamed as ITR-3 & ITR-4.
The New ITR- 1 form can be filed by a person with an annual taxable income of up to Rs. 50 lakh. It
comprises of salary income, income from a house property, and interest income.
Individuals having an annual income more than Rs. 50 lakh or owning than one house property, will have to attach ITR-2 form.
2. Quoting Aadhaar
As per The Finance Act, 2017, it is mandatory to quote Aadhaar at the time of income tax e filing. You
must mention your 12-digit Aadhaar number/ 28-digit Aadhaar enrolment number at the time of filing
ITR.
3. New sections in ITR forms
Earlier, dividend income was exempted from tax. Now dividend income, higher than Rs. 10 lakh is to be taxed at the rate of 10 percent. This must be reported in the schedule OS.
The income received by an individual as a royalty for patents that are registered and developed in India will be taxable at the rate of 10 percent. This must be reported in schedule OS.
As per the Finance Act, 2013, a deduction according to section 80EE was implemented, that remained
available for 2 years. (Financial Year 2013-15). According to this section, a person buying a home for the
first time was eligible to claim a tax benefit of up to Rs. 1 lakh collectively for both the years against the interest paid on the payment of home loans.
For the assessment year 2017-18, Section 80EE has been re-introduced. Now, the deduction is up to Rs. 50,000 each year from the financial year 2016-17. The deduction will be applicable if the value of the house is lesser than Rs 50 lakh with a home loan amount lesser than Rs 35 lakh. The loan must be
sanctioned for the financial year 2017.
4. Mandatory disclosures
For individuals who have deposited Rs. 2 lakh (or more) in their bank account(s) during the demonetization period, the tax department has introduced a column where the details of the money deposited along with the bank account details such as bank name, account number, IFSC code etc. must be provided.
If any individual has any unexplained investments or income, he/she has to report such income in the
new Income Tax Return forms. That amount will be taxable at the rate of 60 percent in addition to
surcharge & cess.
5. Additional Information
In the Finance Act, 2016, a schedule was introduced where individuals or HUFs (Hindu Undivided
Families) with an annual income of Rs. 50 lakh plus to declare the value of their assets (vehicles, jewellery, bank and cash balance, immovable property etc.) and liabilities along with the description of movable assets and address of the immovable property. Individuals must disclose interests earned in the assets of firms, as a partner or member.
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