Filing of Returns

The Return of Income - SEC 139   

(i) is in occupation of an immovable property exceeding a specified floor area, whether by way of ownership, tenancy or otherwise, as may be specified by the Board in this behalf; or

(ii) is the owner or the lessee of a motor vehicle other than a two-wheeled motor vehicle, whether having any detachable side car having extra wheel attached to such two-wheeled motor vehicle or not; or

(iii) is a subscriber to a cellular telephone not being a wireless in local loop telephone; or

(iv) has incurred expenditure for himself or any other person on travel to any foreign country; or

(v) is the holder of a credit card, not being an "add-on" card, issued by any bank or institution; or

(vi) is a member of a club where entrance fee charged is twenty-five thousand rupees or more,

shall furnish a return, of his income during the previous year, on or before the due date in the prescribed form and verified in the prescribed manner and setting forth such other particulars as may be prescribed.

A person needs to file an income-tax return if his/her income is above the basic exemption limits. For the financial year 2006-2007, for males the exemption Limit is Rs 1 lakh, females - Rs 1.35 lakh, and for senior citizens, the exemption limit is, and Rs1.85 lakh, respectively.

Filing returns is mandatory above these limits, even for a salaried person without other sources of income, and for whom tax has been deducted at source.

The last date for filing returns is July 31, 2007. However, it may be advantageous to file returns anyway, as they are usually demanded by banks and financial institutions when one makes investments or takes loans. Also, if refund has to be claimed for tax deduction at source, this becomes important.

Documents to be Attached ? 

No document to be attached with ITR forms. However, all documents used for calculating income-tax return, such as Form 16, bank statements and advance tax receipts are to be preserved , Maybe the Income Tax Officer call for these later, to check the co-relation of details in the form.

Mandatory disclosures

Investments made in bank deposits, mutual funds, shares or even property in the year 2006-07, above certain threshold, needs to be disclosed as under:

Deposits up to Rs 10 lakh, in any single bank, during the year.

Payments made via a single credit card, aggregating Rs 2 lakh.

Purchase of units of a mutual fund aggregating Rs 2 lakh.

Acquisition of bonds or debentures issued by a company for Rs 5 lakh. or more

Investment in RBI bonds, for Rs 5 lakh or more.

Acquisition of shares of a company, for Rs 1 lakh or more.

Purchase or sale of an immovable property for Rs 30 lakh or more.

Where and how to file returns?

As the process has been centralised, filing of IT returns can be done anywhere in the country, at IT offices and even post-offices. If a person has relocated, just the change of address needs to be intimated and the filing can be done at the new location.

Electronic filing of returns introduced in 2004. Individuals can file returns through authorised intermediaries who digitise the data and send it to the IT Department. However, there have been problems regarding e-filed returns and delays in the processing

Penalties for late filing

If there are no balance taxes to be paid, no interest can be levied. However, a penalty of Rs 5,000 can be imposed by the Tax Department. In case there are tax arrears, 1 per cent per month as interest on the taxes due will be levied as penalty.