Filing of Income Tax Return -Documents required

Article discusses documents required for Filing Income Tax Returns which includes Form 16 for salaried class,Interest Certificates from Banks/ Post offices etc, TDS Certificate in Form 16A/ Form 16B / Form 16C, FORM 26AS, Proofs of investments done for saving tax, Home Loan Statements, AADHAR Card etc.

As per the statutory requirement of Income Tax Act 1961, the assesse earning income over a threshold limit of slabs decided by Government has to file his Income Tax Return within a stipulated time period. There are different classes of assesses filing income tax returns and accordingly different threshold limits and due dates have been decided by the Government for Filing of Income Tax Returns.

Documents required while Filing Income Tax Returns-

1. Form 16 for salaried class

Form 16 is the document issued by the employer to its employees wherein the details of the deduction of tax(TDS on salaries as per Sec 194) is shown for the previous year. Based upon the deductions made in the form 16 and the corresponding salary income earned in the previous year, the employee furnishes its income tax return on the govt portal along with any other deductions etc which were not part of the Form 16.

2. Interest Certificates from Banks/ Post offices etc

This is required while showing your income under the head of income from other sources. The interest received by the assesse on his savings is cumulated and summed up figure is shown while filing Income Tax Return.

3. TDS Certificate in Form 16A/ Form 16B / Form 16C

This is applicable when banks and others have already deducted your tax say on the fixed deposits etc. the amount of tax already deducted will get adjusted while finalizing the final figure of tax to be paid to the Government.

4. FORM 26AS

The form 26 AS can be downloaded from TRACES which is infact a government portal wherein the details of all your deducted tax under form 16, 16 A, 16 B, 16 C etc are consolidated and showed in a compiled form. This is required to re-verify the deductions made and the final figures to be shown while filing the income tax return.

5. Proofs of investments done for saving tax

The Income Tax Act 1961 allows the assesses to save its tax amount by investing its income in the various Government approved schemes for tax benefits. Accordingly the assesse who has invested his income under the various schemes as applicable can declare such amounts under the Chapter VI A i.e. deductions being shown from Sec 80C onwards.

6. Home Loan Statements

Where an assesse has taken a home loan, the interest paid on the loan is deducted from the income of house property. Where there is no income from house property but still loan has been taken for construction etc, the loss i.e. negative income can be shown under the head income from house property and the same gets adjusted in the final income. For adjusting the amount of loss / interest amount, the statement from bank is required while filing income tax return.

7. AADHAR Card

Last but not the least is the AADHAR card. It’s a mandatory requirement while filing your income tax return. Sec 139 AA of the Income Tax Act requires that every individual who is filing his income tax return has to mention his AADHAR card number and in case the same is applied for then the corresponding enrolment number has to be mentioned in the return form.

Benefits of filing Income Tax Return

Apart from a statutory requirement and a moral responsibility of every citizen, there are other key benefits of filing Income Tax Return also which includes-

1. Transparency of your income and earnings

2. Preference in availing Loan Facilities

3. A plus point While applying for various Jobs

4. Helps in Immigration from India

5. Benefits to Corporate Assesses

6. Insurance Claims