Filing income tax returns

Simply put, Income Tax refers to the direct tax paid on income, to the government, within a given financial year (April-March).
When the total income of a person from all sources of income exceeds the maximum amount permissible which is not chargeable to income-tax by the government, then that person is liable to file the Income Tax Return. Section 139(1) of the Income Tax Act was amended a few years back with a view to bring a larger number of persons in the tax net. Now if any person satisfies any one of the following six conditions:

owns a vehicle
occupies a specified floor area of an immovable property
incurs expenditure for himself or for any other person on foreign-travel
subscribes to a telephone
subscribes to a Credit Card
is a Club member

then he/she is required to file an Income Tax Return.
The slabs to file Income Tax Returns vary, depending upon the total income earned during a year and the various exemptions for which the individual/entity is eligible for. In the case of an assessee earning income primarily from salary, the due date for filing the Income Tax Return is normally 30th June of the assessment year, unless extended by the Income Tax Department.

Individuals can file their Income Tax Returns by filling the requisite forms Saral D or Naya Saral 2E.

Saral (2D):	To be used by, non-corporate assessees other than persons claiming exemption under section 11.
Naya Saral (2E):	To be used by all resident individuals/ Hindu Undivided Families (HUF), other than persons having any capital gains or income from business or profession or agricultural income or winnings from lotteries, crossword puzzles, horse races, card games, etc., and foreign income

The return form, along with copies of necessary supporting documents, has to be filed at the appropriate income tax office or special counters set up for this purpose, the details of which are available on the Income Tax Department website. It is also mandatory to quote the Permanent Account Number (PAN) while filing the return.

Recently, the Income Tax Department has also launched the Electronic Furnishing of Return of Income Scheme, 2004 vide the Notification dated 30.9.2004 (Annexure-I). Under this scheme, eligible assessees can file their returns of income electronically through persons authorised to act as e-return intermediaries. The intermediaries will digitise the data of such returns and transmit the same electronically to the e-filing server of the Income Tax Department under their digital signatures.