We have two types of taxes in India – Direct Tax and Indirect tax.
Direct Tax is a tax that is calculated directly on your Income e.g. tax on salary etc. Income tax is a Direct Tax.
Indirect Tax is a tax that is indirectly charged. And is put on goods or services. So if you are purchasing a mobile phone or a new suit. Most indirect taxes have now come under Goods and Services Tax (GST).
Anyone earning an income above a certain amount is subject to income tax. The income could be from salary, rent, and interest income from savings, income from mutual funds, sale of property or business or professional income. Income tax rates are decided at the start of the financial year in the Union Budget (in the Parliament of India). The tax paid on these incomes is called the income tax.
It is simply a form to be filed with the Income Tax Department. A Form to be filed as a statement of income earned. It is arranged in such a way that calculating tax liability, scheduling tax payments, or requesting refunds for the overpayment of taxes has been made convenient for the taxpayers. They must, first, determine the type of Income Tax Return (ITR) Form they need to fill before actually filing their Returns. Which Form is to be filled, depends on the income that the taxpayer earns. Its purpose is to report our income and taxes paid thereon to the government.
ITR Forms for Individuals | ITR Forms for Non-Individuals |
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ITR – 1 (Sahaj) – For individuals earning income from salaries, one house property, interest income, agriculture, other sources, etc. | ITR – 5 – Entities other than,- (i) individual, (ii) HUF, (iii) company and (iv) person filing Form ITR-7 |
ITR – 2 – For Individuals and HUFs having income other than from profits and gains of business or profession. It may be from capital gain, lottery or foreign assets, etc. | ITR – 6 – All companies except those that claim tax exemption as per Section 11. |
ITR – 3 – For individuals and HUF with income from profits of a business or profession. | ITR – 7 – Persons incl. companies required to furnish returns under sections 139(4A) or 139(4B) or 139(4C) or 139(4D) only. |
ITR – 4 (Sugam) – For Individuals, HUFs and Firms (other than LLP) having presumptive business income tax returns. This is computed under sections 44AD, 44ADA or 44AE. |
Many investors have very low or zero tax liability and therefore this section does not have to file returns mandatorily. Even though they have some sort of income occurring.
And there is another section that only file returns when something urgent requirement comes up asking for their last few years of ITR. They approach a nearby CA and file their old tax returns.
There has been low-Income Tax filing Compliance in India. However, in recent years, the Govt. of India has taken some stringent measures to enforce the Income Tax Law by linking various benefits for prompt tax filers.
Different penalties have been directed for various defaults committed by the taxpayer, under the Income Tax Act. Some of them are mandatory and a few are at the consideration of the tax authorities. Given below are the provisions relating to various penalties leviable.
In case an incorrect form has been used to file the returns, then it will be treated as “defective” and the assessee will be asked to file a revised ITR using the correct form.
Now, the taxpayer gets some time to amend the mistake. And the return must be filed within 15 days from the date of receipt of the intimation, as per Section 139(9). This time limit may be extended by the assessing officer (AO) on an application by the assessee. If the defect is not corrected within the stipulated time, then it will be treated as an invalid return. That is the same as not filing a return at all.
Therefore, the person will be facing all the penalties prescribed to not filing ITR. As well as, interest will get charged, u/s 234A, for the delay.
If it is found that the actual income exceeds the income declared by the person. Or when no return has been filed despite income exceeding the basic exemption limit. Penalty at 50% of tax payable on such under-reported income shall be payable.
200% of the tax will get if under-reporting results from misreporting of income.
As per Section 234F of the Income Tax Act, if you file after 31st July (it was extended to 31st August for AY 2019-2020) but before December, a penalty of Rs. 5000 will be levied. For returns filed after December, the penalty will be Rs. 10,000.
However, to provide relief to small taxpayers, the IT department has stated a maximum penalty of only Rs. 1,000 will get levied. The condition is that your total income is less than Rs 5 lakh.
In case a demand notice u/s 156, has been issued to the taxpayer for payment of tax (other than notice for payment of advance tax). Then such amount, as per section 220(1), shall be paid within 30 days of the service of the notice at the place and to the person mentioned in the notice. If the taxpayer defaults in payment of any tax due, then apart from other penal provisions, he is treated as an assessee in default. For an assessee in default, the penalty will get levied as decided by the AO. However, the penalty cannot exceed the amount of arrears in tax.
Before penalizing, the taxpayer is given a reasonable opportunity of being heard. No penalty is levied if the taxpayer can prove that the default due to a good and sufficient reason.
Every person liable to deduct tax at the source is liable to furnish the statement of TDS, as per Section 200(3). It is termed as TDS Return. And every person liable to collect tax at the source, as per Section 206C (3), has to file a statement in respect of TCS, i.e. TCS Return.
If a person fails to file the TDS/TCS return on or before the due date prescribed, then he shall be liable to pay, by way of fee, a sum of Rs. 200 for every day of the delay, as per Section 234E. This amount, however, shall not exceed the amount of TDS/TCS. A late TDS/TCS return cannot be filed this late fee.
The AO may make an addition to the income of a taxpayer as per Section 68, 69, 69A, 69B, 69C, or 69D if the explanation about the nature and source of his income is not satisfactory.
The AO is empowered to levy penalty at the rate of 10% of the tax payable if any addition is made. However, no penalty shall be levied if this income has been disclosed in the ITR and tax paid, u/s 115BBE, on or before the end of the relevant previous year.
The taxpayer, who is required to furnish ITR u/s 139 failed to furnish a return of income within the due date as prescribed under section 139(1) then as per section 234F, he will be liable to pay penalty same as delayed filing
However, if the total income of the person is less than Rs. 5 lakh then the fee payable shall be Rs. 1000.
Listed below are some of the most common tax filing mistakes you can avoid.
Form 16 can be termed as Salary TDS (Tax Deducted at Source) Certificate that an employer issue to you for the TDS deducted. Form 16 is an Income tax form, used by the companies to provide their salaried employee’s information on the tax deducted.
As soon as the income from your salary for the financial year exceeds the basic exemption limit, the employer is required to deduct TDS. The deducted amount is to be deposited to the Government.
After deducting TDS from the salary, the employer is required to give a certificate to the employee consisting of the details. This certificate is known as Form 16.
It consists of two parts i.e. Part A and Part B. Part A consists of details about the employer & employee, name and address, PAN and TAN details, TDS deducted & deposited, etc. And Part B consists of details related to other income, deductions allowed, etc.
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However, if the total income of the person is less than Rs. 5 lakh then the fee payable shall be Rs. 1000.