ITR filing 2019-20: Documents required to file income tax returns

It is that time of the year again. The time to file your income tax return. Though there is enough time this year, but it is better to do it early than to knock on your wealth manager’s door to get it done on the deadline.

Every salaried person whether falling under the tax slab or not must file an income tax return (ITR). Alternatively, ITR is a necessary document for people seeking a home loan or a car loan.

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This means it becomes very important to file ITR carefully so that it doesn’t get rejected. And more so, to avoid penalties.

Even if you don’t plan to file returns right now, then it would be wise to collect all necessary documents.

  • Here are the documents that will be required to file ITR:

– Form 16: For filing the ITR, form 16 is the most important document for all salaried individuals. It is a certificate issued by employers detailing the tax deducted at the source and it also carries the details of the salary paid to the employee and their TDS.

Every employer is liable to issue Form 16 to all its employees from whom income tax has deducted from their salaries. It is a mandatory document.

Form 16 consists of 2 parts ‘Part A’ and ‘Part B’. Part A is the portion that consists of the income tax deducted by the employer in the financial year. It has the Permanent Account Number (PAN) details of the employee and the Tax Deduction Account Number (TAN) of the employer. Part B of Form 16 includes the break-up information of the employee’s gross salary.

– Form 26AS: Income Tax Department generates an annual consolidated tax statement which is known as ‘Form 26AS’. Using PAN, all taxpayers can easily access it from the income-tax website. It contains the amount of the TDS of the salaried class and taxes paid during the financial year (in case of self-employed or businessmen).

Taxpayers can refer to their Form 26AS and tally it with their Form 16 for the amount of taxes they paid to the treasury of the central government while filing the ITR.

Improved ‘Form 26AS’ introduced by the government last month. It carries details in various categories of an individual’s financial transactions specified in the Statement of Financial Transactions (SFTs).

Tax Saving Investments: An individual has to submit the proof of the same directly to the Income Tax (I-T) Department for claiming tax deductions if they fail to submit their tax-saving investments to their employers during the stated period in the previous financial year.

These include receipt of life insurance (LIC) premium paid, receipt of medical insurance, Public Provident Fund (PPF) passbook, 5-year FD receipts, mutual funds investment (ELSS), home loan repayment certificate/statement, donation paid receipt, tuition fee paid receipt, etc.

– Certificates related to interest income: An individual gets income from various interest investments such as savings to account deposits and fixed deposits from banks and post offices apart from the income from salary. Interest certificates/bank statements are provided to depositors for the same by these financial institutions.

Under section 80TTA of the Income Tax Act, an individual can claim deduction up to Rs 10,000 on the interest earned from their savings account held with a bank/post office.