By Sudeep Das

Amidst the transformational change of the ushering of Goods and Service Tax with a lot of curiosity and anxiety among the stakeholders, now is the time for an individual taxpayer, who constitutes about 90 per cent of the total taxpayers in India, to file the annual income-tax return (ITR) for the financial year 2016-17 (Year ended March 31, 2017).

During the past few years, the government has shown its intent of moving into an era of digitisation and automation with a clear focus on widening the tax base and thus ensuring larger tax compliance. This has been clearly demonstrated in the complete overhaul of ITR forms.

For an individual taxpayer, filing an ITR is an intricate process with detailed disclosure requirements. We have encapsulated below some of the frequently asked questions in relation to filing of ITR by an individual taxpayer:

Q1: How to identify which ITR form has to be filed by an individual taxpayer:

ITR form

Classes of person required to file this form

ITR 1

Individuals having income as from below sources:

  • Income from salary/ pension;
  • Income from only one house property; and/or
  • Income from other sources such as interest income from bank account (excluding winning from lottery, income from race horses, dividend received from domestic company exceeding Rs 10 lakh etc.)
    It is to be noted that the aggregate total taxable income of the individual from above sources should not exceed Rs 50 Lakh while electing this ITR form.

ITR 2

Individuals covered under the below scenarios:

  • covered under ITR 1 and total taxable income exceeds Rs 50 Lakh;
  • having income from more than one house property
  • having income from business or profession
  • having income under the head “Capital Gains”;
  • claiming relief under Section 90 and/ Section 91 of the Income-tax Act 1961;
  • having agriculture income exceeding Rs 5,000;
  • having losses under the head “Income from other sources”;
  • having income from winning from lottery or race horses, specified dividend income or unexplained investments;
  • having income sourced, or assets, located outside India;
  • undertaking business or profession under any partnership business; or

ITR 3

For individuals having income from a proprietary business or profession

ITR 4

For presumptive income under the head income from business and profession such as retail business, plying, hiring or leasing goods carriages etc.

Q2: How to download an ITR form from the Income-Tax Department online e-filing portal:

Steps to download an ITR form from the tax department portal:

Step 1: Visit the Income-tax department e-filing portal @ http://www.incometaxindiaefiling.gov.in;

Step 2: Click on tab “ITRs” appearing under the head “Downloads”

Step 3: Choose Assessment Year as 2017-18;

Step 4: Download the relevant ITR form by clicking on “Download” tab appearing under the head Excel utility and Java utility respectively.

The user may choose Excel or Java utility depending on the ease of using the respective application software.

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Q3: What are the details of income-tax e-filing helpline?

An individual taxpayer may reach out to the below helpline numbers for assistance:

 

Queries related to

Customer Care

Working Hours

Income tax /PAN/TAN
General Queries		1800 180 1961 (Toll free)08:00 hrs – 20:00 hrs
(Monday to Saturday)
e-Filing of ITR
e-Filing Login		1800 4250 0025 (Toll free) /
+91 80 2650 0025		00:00 hrs – 23:59 hrs
(24X7 up to July 31, 2017)
PAN / TAN
PAN / TAN updation		+91 20 2721 808009:30 hrs – 20:00 hrs (Monday to Friday)
09:30 hrs – 18:00 hrs (Saturday)
Form 26AS and
Form 16		1800 103 0344 (Toll free)10:00 hrs – 18:00 hrs
(Monday to Saturday)

Q4: How to download Tax Department’s Mobile Android App?

The Central Board of Direct Taxes, the administrative body for direct taxes in India, has recently launched a mobile android app under the name of ‘Aaykar Setu’ which intends to act as a guide to resolve tax issues. The app could assist in calculation of outstanding tax liability along with payment of tax prior to filing the ITR. The app also provides assistance in tracing the nearest Tax Return Preparer (TRP) and other tools to manage your PAN and TDS details.

The android app, which is of approximately 5 MB size, can be downloaded from the play store or from a link which is received upon giving a missed call at 7306525252. Once downloaded, the app does not request for any login details. It guides a taxpayer to undertake suitable income-tax related action.

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Q5: What are the statutory due dates for filing ITR for the Financial Year 2016-17?

We have provided below the class of persons along with the turnover/ gross receipts limit who would be required to file their ITRs on or before the prescribed due dates:

 

Class of person

Threshold limit

Due date

Salaried person + Income from other sources + Income from Capital gainsNo threshold limit prescribed31-Jul-17
Person carrying on BusinessTurnover/ total sales is up to Rs 01 crore31-Jul-17
Person carrying on Profession Gross receipt is up to Rs 50 Lakh31-Jul-17
Person carrying on Business (Tax audit applicable)Turnover/ total sales exceeds Rs 01 crore30-Sep-17
Person carrying on Profession – (Tax audit applicable)Gross receipt exceeds Rs 50 lakh30-Sep-17

 

If one would look to walk through the above frequently asked questions, it could be noticed that the entire drive is towards simplification and data collation. This would assist the tax department to evaluate data and figure out the level of compliance undertaken by the taxpayers. Accordingly, it would be prudent for the taxpayer to take note of the above key points and comply with the disclosure requirements in entirety.

(The author is a Chartered Accountant)