The Income Tax Return or Filling Income Tax Return online is the process of declaring the total income of an individual or a firm or corporate to the Income Tax Department of India, at the end of each financial year. This particular statement is known as the “Return of Income” or “The Income Tax Return.”
The department has notified 7 different forms i.e. ITR 1, ITR 2, ITR 3, ITR 4, ITR 5, ITR 6 & ITR. Every individual or firm or corporate should file his ITR on or before the specified due dates. The applicability of ITR forms varies depending on the sources of income of the taxpayer, the amount of the income earned and the category the taxpayer belongs to like individuals, HUF, company etc.
| ITR-1/SAHAJ |
For the individuals earning total income upto Rs.50 Lacs from: *Salary *Pension *One house property *Income from other sources |
| ITR-2 |
For the individuals & HUF: *Every income from ITR-1>50 lakhs *More than one house property *Foreign Income *Capital Gains *Holding Director Position in a company *Holding unlisted equity shares |
| ITR-3 |
For the individuals & HUF: *Every income from ITR-2 *Presumptive income > 50 lakhs *Business/Profession income *Partner Income |
| ITR-4/SUGAM |
*For presumptive income from Business or Profession for Individuals, HUF, Firms (other than LLP) *All Income in ITR-1 Total Income > 50 lakhs |
| ITR-5 |
For the persons other than below: *Individual *HUF *Company *Persons filing Form ITR-7 |
| ITR-6 | For all Companies, except companies claiming exemption under Section 11 |
| ITR-7 |
For persons including companies required to furnish return under: *Section 139(4A) *Section 139(4B) *Section 139 (4C) *Section 139 (4D) |
| ITR-V | It is the acknowledgement of filling the return of income. |
According to the Income Tax Act, income tax has to be paid only by individuals or businesses that fall within certain income brackets. Mentioned below are entities or businesses that are required to compulsorily file their ITRs in India:
| 1. |
1. All Individuals whose gross total income (before claiming the specified deductions/exemptions) exceeds basic exemption limit of Rs 2,50,000 during financial year. However, if the above income threshold is not met, then an individual may be obliged to file the income-tax return in certain cases specified in the law as under: # Individual holding any asset (including financial interest in any entity) located outside India; or # Individual having signing authority in any account located outside India; or # Individual being beneficiary of any asset (including financial interest in any entity) located outside India. Further, the Budget 2019 also added the below categories of individuals which are mandatorily required to file the tax return irrespective of their income threshold:
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| 2. | All registered companies that generate income, regardless of whether they’ve made any profit or not through the year. |
| 3. | Those who wish to claim a refund on the excess tax deducted/income tax they’ve paid. |
| 4. | 4. Individuals who have assets or financial interest entities which are located outside India. |
| 5. | Foreign companies that enjoy treaty benefits on transactions made in India. |
| 6. | NRIswho earn or accrue more than Rs. 2.5 lakhs in India in a single financial year. |
The taxpayer is not required to attach any document along with the income tax return (like proof of investment, bank statement, form 16, TDS certificates etc) However, these documents should be retained by the taxpayer and should be produced before the tax authorities when demanded in situations like assessment, inquiry, etc.
The excess tax can be claimed as refund by filing your income tax return (ITR). After your return is processed and provided the tax department accepts your refund claim, the amount claimed as refund would be credited back to your bank account through Electronic Clearance Service (ECS) transfer.
E-filing of ITR can be done from any place at any time and it saves time and efforts. It is simple, easy and faster. The e-filed returns are generally processed faster as compared to returns filed manually.
If a person who is required to furnish a return of income under section 139 and fails to do so within time prescribed in sub-section (1) , then they have to pay interest on tax due. W.e.f. assessment year 2018-19, fee as per section 234F is required to be paid if return is furnished after due date. Fee for default in furnishing return of income will be as follows:
| Total Income | Date of Filling of Income tax Return | Late Fees (in Rs) |
| Not liable to file return of income | Any Time during Relevant Assessment year | NIL |
| Any Amount of Income | On or before the due date | Nil |
| Upto Rs 5,00,000 | After the due date | 1,000 |
| Above Rs 5,00,000 | After the due date but on or before December 31 of relevant assessment year | 5,000 |
| Above Rs 5,00,000 | After the due date but between January 1st to March 31st of the relevant assessment year | 10,000 |
The Finance Bill, 2021 has proposed to reduce the time limit to file belated or revised returns of income as the case may be by 3 months. Therefore the last date to file the revised or belated return shall be 31st December of the relevant assessment year.
Therefore higher late fees of Rs 10,000 cannot be levied in any situation.
After the amendment, the late filing fee shall be leviable as mention below:
| Total Income | Date of Filling of Income tax Return | Late Fees (in Rs) |
| Not liable to file return of income | Any Time during Relevant Assessment year | NIL |
| Any Amount of Income | On or before the due date | Nil |
| Upto Rs 5,00,000 | After the due date | 1,000 |
| Above Rs 5,00,000 | After the due date | 5,000 |
The Income-tax Department maintains the database of the total tax paid by the taxpayer (i.e., tax credit in the account of a taxpayer). Form 26AS is an annual statement maintained under Rule 31AB of the Income-tax Rules disclosing the details of tax credit in his account as per the database of Income-tax Department. In other words, Form 26AS will reflect the details of tax credit appearing in the Permanent Account Number of the taxpayer as per the database of the Income-tax Department. The tax credit will cover TDS, TCS and tax paid by the taxpayer in other forms like advance tax, Self Assessment Tax etc.
Non-reflection of TDS credit in Form 26AS can be due to several reasons like non-filing of TDS statement by the payer, quoting incorrect PAN of the deductee in the TDS statement filed by the payer. Thus, in case of non-reflection of TDS credit in Form 26AS, the payee has to contact the payer for ascertaining the correct reasons for non-reflection of the TDS credit in Form 26AS