Time to File Your Tax Returns – Basic Income Tax Questions

Filing Tax Returns – Basic Questions Answered for Salaried Individuals

It’s the end of the financial year 2010-11 and time to file income tax returns.   As per a recent update from the central tax authority stating there is no need to file tax returns for individuals earning less than 5 lakhs per annum a formal notification of which is expected to come out in June, here are some basic income tax questions that every individual tax payer should have answers to.

Who is eligible to file income tax returns?

Any individual whose total accumulated income from all sources crosses the defined limit (see limit chart below) will needs to file income tax returns with the income tax department.

Defined Taxable Limit Per Category

Taxable Limit for Men -  Rs. 160,000/-

Taxable Limit for Women – Rs. 190,000/-

Taxable Limit for Senior Citizens  (65 years and above) -  Rs. 240,000/-

What’s the Income Tax Return Last Date?

The due date generally is by July 31st of every year.

What Happens if you don’t file  your returns by the notified due date?

If you are liable to pay tax to the government then you might have to pay a penalty amounting to 1% of the taxes due to the government.  You would need to ensure that you pay your taxes by the end of the assessment year in case you don’t stick to the defined due date failing which you would be liable to pay an additional penalty of Rs. 5000/-.  In case your tax liability for any given financial year was zero then the penalty factor might not apply to you.  It, however, is strongly recommended to file your returns on time.   Consult your CA for additional details.

How to go about filing your returns?

The process is quite simple.  In most cases individuals have their returns filed by tax consultants who file returns on their behalf for a small fee.   You just need to fill the ITR form and attach the relevant documents along with a copy of your PAN card and the form 16 issued by your employer.

E Filing of Income Tax Return

For those of whom who have access to the internet, they can chose to file their returns online without much hassle by going to the Income Tax India website.   Filing returns online is a hassle free, simple and cost effective way to file returns and isn’t really as complicated as one would believe it is supposed to be.

Hope this post helped you in finding answers to some basic income tax questions.   You can also check out a related post on the 7 most common ways to save tax under section 80c of income tax.

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