With the last date for filing income tax returns (ITR) approaching fast, taxpayers who haven’t filed their returns yet are hitting the panic button. But there is no need to worry. Filing ITR online actually just takes minutes and can prove to be extremely simple if you have all the necessary documents handy.
Here’s a list of documents that you should collect before starting the process:
Form 16: If you are a salaried person, this is one of the most important documents to have while filing your ITR. Form 16 is a certificate issued by your employer to provide details of the salary paid to you and TDS deducted on it, if any. It is mandatory for employers to issue Form 16 if your employer has deducted TDS from your salary. Apart from details of the tax deducted, Form 16 also has your Permanent Account Number (PAN), which is also required to file ITR online. In case of a change in job in the mid of a financial year, you will need Form 16 from both the employers.
Salary slips: Monthly salary slips are needed to get information on different allowances such as house rent allowance (HRA), transport allowance etc. You can fill all the details in your ITR form on each allowance received during the year using those salary slips and then calculate the taxability portion of it. The tax treatment of each allowance is different — some allowances are fully taxable, while some are partially taxed. You can find all this information in your salary slips.
Interest certificates from banks: This is a TDS certificate for the interest earned on your fixed deposits in the bank. If you do not get interest certificates, make sure your bank account statement is updated and shows details of the interest credited to your account till 31 March 2019.
Form 26AS: It is a form which depicts the total tax that has been deducted from various sources of income against your PAN and has been deposited to the government account. It will include details on TDS deducted by your employer, by banks if the interest income exceeds Rs 10,000, by any other organisation for the payments that have been made to you, any advance taxes that you deposited yourself during 2018-19, and self-assessment taxes paid by you.
Form 16A, Form 16B, Form 16C: If TDS is deducted on any income other than salary over specified limit under the income tax laws, the bank will issue Form 16A with exact details of the TDS amount. Meanwhile, if you have recently sold any property belonging to you, the buyer has to issue a Form 16B. And, if you are earning income from rent, you should ask the tenant to give you a Form 16C for details related to TDS deducted on received rent.
Home loan statement: Taxpayers who have taken home loan from bank or any other non-banking financial company (NBFC) should collect the loan statement as it will provide break-up details of principal and interest repayment.
Tax payment challan: If you have already paid any advance tax or self-assessment tax, you will need the tax payment challan specifying details of the tax already submitted.
Source: News18