Income tax return - all inclusive

Income tax return

The first thing you should know is, its always good to file Income tax return when you have any source of income no matter if you have any taxable income or not.

Some comman concerns about income Tax -

1) Why Pan Card??

A PAN number has been made compulsory for every transaction with the Income Tax department. Now a days Pan Card is mandatory for many financial transactions including opening of bank accounts, taking institutional financial credits , purchase of high-end consumer item, foreign travel, transaction of immovable properties, dealing in securities etc. A PAN card is a valuable means of photo identification accepted by all government and non-government institutions in the country.

2) Is Income tax return filing is mandatory, if I have a PAN card?

No. Return is to be filed only if you have taxable income.

3)Income tax return can be filled online & offline. For online filing (e-filing), various ITR filing services are available. Some good ones are -

itrust.in

taxsmile.com

incometaxindiaefiling.gov.in

All you need is details regarding your income and deductions applicable (like tax saving intuments etc).

For Offline filing, you can fill up ITR-1 form yourself and visit any nearest Income tax office to submit it and get acknowledgement. Still probnlems then visit any agent or CA. They may charge anything from Rs. 100 to Rs. 1000 and provide you full assistence in filing ITR.

4) What is form 16 ?

Form 16 is a summary certificate for all your tax related details from your employer mentioning all your income and tax saving expenses. You should have this document with you and everything from this you can mention in ITR-1 form.

5) What If I don't reveive Form-16 from my employer?

Its always better to have all your documents with you as a proof so best thing is to get Form-16 from the employer. Still, if there is any issue, then you can still file income tax return and you need to keep all proofs (salary slips, saving documents, House rent receipts, medical, ULIP documents etc) with you in case of any enquiry by IT dept.

6) What if all tax saving details or any source of income not mentioned in my Form-16?

You can add them in your ITR-1 form or mention that to agent at the time of ITR filing.

7) I am confused in terms financial year and assessment year?

See. Financial year is for what you are going to file the income tax and assessment year is the next year of financial year.

eg, If you are planning to file income tax in june-2010, then your financial year will be from 1st April 2009 to 31 March 2010, and assessment year will be 2010-2011.

8)What is corporate tax then??

When companies pay income tax, its corporate tax. :)

9)What are different sources of income with respect to income tax ?

Categorized in mainly 5 types as below -

Income from Salary

Income from House property

Income from Business or Profession

Income from capital gains

Income from other sources

10) How can I apply for PAN?

Its very simple to apply for PAN now. Either fill the form online (https://tin.tin.nsdl.com/pan/index.html) and send Pan Ack & supporting docs via Normal post to NSDL, or you can also fill the form (hardcopy) and send/deposit the same at UTI center.

Alternatively you can go to any agent for filling up PAN form.

Permanent Account Number (PAN)

Permanent Account Number (PAN) refers to a ten-digit alphanumeric number, issued in the form of a laminated card, by the Income Tax Department in India. It is a must to have a PANnumber for all those who file their income tax returns, because from 2005 onwards, it has been made mandatory by the Income Tax Department to quote the PAN on return of income as well as on all correspondence with any income tax authority in the country.

Also, it is now compulsory to quote PAN in all documents pertaining to financial transactions notified from time to time by the Central Board of Direct Taxes, such as sale and purchase of immovable property or motor vehicle or payments in cash, of amounts exceeding a certain limit to hotels and restaurants, or in connection with travel to any foreign country. It is also mandatory to mention PAN for obtaining a telephone or cellular telephone connection. Likewise, PAN has to be mentioned for making a time deposit exceedingRs. 50,000/- with a Bank or Post Office or for depositing cash of Rs. 50,000/- or more in aBank.

How to apply for a PAN ?

(Manual Application)
Applying for PAN is a simple and convenient procedure. All you need to do is submit the application form 49A . The PAN application can also be downloaded from the website of UTI Investor Services Ltd (the authorised agency to manage IT PAN service Centres in various cities) or from the website of National Securities Depository Ltd (NSDL) or printed by local printers or photocopied (on A4 size 70 GSM paper) or obtained from any other source. The form is also available at IT PAN Service Centres and TIN Facilitation Centres.
You will need a recent colour photograph (stamp size: 3.5 cm x 2.5 cm) to attach on the form. You must mention the designation and code of the concerned Assessing Officer of theIncome Tax department in Form 49A. You can get this from the IT PAN Service Centresmentioned in the websites listed above. Also, the application shall have to be accompanied by a proof of identity as well as a proof of residence.
The filled application form has to be submitted at your nearest IT PAN Service Centre orTIN Facilitation Centre along with the requisite fee (INR 95 currently) . The location of such centres can be searched online by using the facility given below :
- IT PAN Service Centres (http://www.utitsl.co.in/pan/search.php)
- TIN Facilitation Centres(http://www.tin-nsdl.com/TINFaciliCenter.asp)

(Online Application)

Applications for fresh allotment of PAN can also be submitted through the Net. Further, requests for changes or correction in PAN data or a request for a newPAN card (for an existing PAN) may also be made through the Internet (https://tin.tin.nsdl.com/pan/index.html). If an application for allotment of PAN is submitted through theInternet and payment made through a 'nominated' credit card, the PAN is allotted on priority and communicated through email.
To track PANcard application status visit https://tin.tin.nsdl.com/tan/StatusTrack.html. A complete application with paper work & successful payment usually takes 7-10 days for a PAN card to be recieved.

For more details visit http://www.tin-nsdl.com .

Govt has decided to follow biometric identifications for new PAN card applicants from Jan 2011. So as of now, its not required to visit NSDL centers to apply a PAN card but from Jan'2011 onwards, it would be mandatory.