Who needs to mandatory to file ITR?
As per
Income tax laws;
You
need to file your income tax return if your gross taxable income (without any
tax saving deduction) is more than the basic tax limit applicable for you.
Gross Taxable Income is defined as
Total Income
for the financial year
(Minus) Conveyance Allowance, LTA, HRA,
Profession Tax, Home loan interest, etc.
But before exemptions under Section 80C to 80U
etc which includes investments such as ELSS, PPF, NPS, Insurance etc
Below is the Basic Tax limit:
§
For
citizens below 60 years of age – Rs 2.5 Lakhs
§
Between
60 and 80 years (Senior Citizens) – Rs 3 Lakhs
§
Above
80 years (Very Senior Citizens) – Rs 5 Lakhs
Some Examples:
1. If you are 58 years of age and your income is Rs 3 lakhs, you need not necessarily pay tax as you can invest Rs 50,000 in Sec 80C (such as PPF, ELSS etc) and pay 0 taxes. But still you will need to file your tax returns.
2.
If
you are 81 years of age and your income is Rs 4.5 Lakhs you need not necessarily file
income tax return as
the basic tax limit is Rs 5 lakhs for very senior citizens.
Other than the above you still
need to file your ITR if you satisfy any of the following conditions:
1.
You
have to claim any excess tax deposited
2.
You
have losses that you want to take forward to next financial years
3.
If
you have any foreign asset or income from sources outside India
4.
If
you have income from property held by a trust
Why filing ITR is good idea?
Other than
the categories of people described above who needs to mandatory to file ITR, we encourage everyone with income to file their ITR because of following reasons:
1.
ITR
is required when you want
to take any loan. This serves as valid income proof especially
for the self employed.
2.
Also
it’s useful document when you apply
for Visa for some
countries
3.
The
filing of ITR is easy,
free and can be done by self in 15 – 20 minutes especially if you income sources only
from salary/pension, fixed deposit interests etc.
Is e-filing ITR mandatory?
You would
need to e-file your income tax return in case
1.
You
have to claim refund of excess tax paid
2.
Your
gross income is more than Rs 5 lakhs
3.
ITR
forms 3, 4, 5, 6 & 7 have to e-file
However for citizens above 80 years of age, they can still file their
returns in paper format if they are using ITR forms 1, 2A or 2.
Last date for Filing ITR?
The last date for filing income
tax return for AY 2015-16 (FY 2014-15) is August 31, 2015. However in case you are carrying
on a business and your accounts are required to be audited, the due date gets
extended till September 30, 2015.
What if you miss the ITR deadline?
In case you miss the deadline for
filing your ITR for AY 2015-16, you can still do it by March 31, 2016 without
any penalty and up to March 31, 2017 with penalty. But in either case you loose on
following benefits:
1.
You
cannot revise your returns in case you find any error on a later date
2.
You
cannot carry forward your losses
3.
In
case you had tax due, you will need to pay penalty on that – 1% for every month
of delay
What’s the Penalty for non-filing ITR?
In case you
do not file your income tax return for AY 2015-16 by March 31, 2016 (but
should have filed as per IT laws),the assessing officer can put a fine of up to Rs 5,000 under
section 271F after
hearing the credits of your case.
Ideally everyone with income should file their IT return as it serves as
valid proof of income. Paying taxes and filing returns are two different things
and you should not default on either. So even if you paid all your taxes or
have zero tax liability you must file your returns as per law.
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