An income tax return is a prescribed form through which the particulars of income earned by an individual in a financial year and taxes paid on such income are communicated to the Income Tax Department. You can download this form by clicking on www.incometax.gov.in.

Are you required to file Income Tax Returns?

If your total gross income exceeds INR 2,50,000 before allowing the deductions, then it is mandatory for you to file an Income Tax Return in India. In case of senior citizens (people who are more than 60 years of age but less than 80 years old), the limit is 3,00,000 and for super senior citizens (people who are more than 80 years old) is 5,00,000.

How do I file an ITR?

1. To file your income tax return log on to IncomeTaxIndiaeFiling.gov.in and register on the website. For this purpose, your Permanent Account Number (PAN) is considered your user ID. You can view your tax credit statement or Form 26AS, and it must tally with the TDS as per your Form 16.
2. Choose the financial year for which you are filing the return.
3. Download the Income Tax Return form applicable to you
4. Using the Form 16, fill out your form. You can check the tax payable amount by clicking on the ‘calculate tax’ tab.
5. In case there is some tax liability, pay tax and fill out the details in the challan.
6. ‘Upload return’ on the portal’s panel and upload the saved XML file.

The acknowledgement form, ITR Verification (ITR-V) will be generated which can be downloaded by you.

What are the different modes of filing return of income tax?

You can furnish the return in-

• Paper form
• Electronically under digital signature
• Electronically under electronic under electronic verification code
• Electronically and thereafter submitting the verification of the return in Return Form ITR- V

What are the deductions available to reduce the gross tax liability?

Income tax deductions for the financial year 2016-17 or Assessment year 2017-18 are-

In case, if you fail to file income tax returns, the income tax department can impose a penalty of INR 5,000. Irrespective of the fact whether your income is within the tax slabs or not you should file income tax return.

It is pertinent to note here that you should keep the copy of the return as proof- since legal proceedings can be initiated up to four or six years under the Income Tax Act. Therefore, so must maintain these documents at least for this period. In certain cases, the proceedings have been initiated even after six years.Hence, it is advisable to maintain keep the copy of your return for as long as possible.

If you need assistance for the filing of tax returns you consult a tax lawyer through LawRato. You can also consult a GST lawyer if you have queries on GST.