In a big relief to the taxpayer and in a bid to reduce the workload of the income tax officials, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Monday proposed exemption from filing tax returns to those earning up to Rs. 5 lakh unless they had other sources of income.
The government will be issuing a notification in this regard, said the Memorandum to the Finance Bill 2011. The decision will come into effect from June 1, 2011, it added.
Salaried taxpayers who do not have other sources of income and whose incomes are subject to Tax Deduction at Source (TDS) will be excluded from filing returns. Therefore, in cases where there is no other source of income, filing of a return is duplication of existing information, the Memorandum said.
“Salaried people, may be up to Rs. 5 lakh, need not file the income tax return,'' Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) chairman Sudhir Chandra told reporters later during the post-budget briefing.
In case such a salary earner has income from other sources like dividend and interest and does not want to file returns, he will have to disclose such income to his employer for tax deduction.
Mr. Chandra said. “The Form 16 issued to salaried employees will be treated as Income Tax Return.” Every person whose income exceeds the taxable limit is presently required to file returns. Another Finance Ministry official said the decision to raise tax exemption limit of very senior citizens (aged above 80) to Rs. 5 lakh will benefit about 15,000 tax payers.
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