Skip to main content

Filing I-T Returns

 


Two out of three taxpayers don't know the tax rules and could be filing faulty returns
 
Filing your tax returns is very easy, but make sure you know the tax rules. The returns of almost 66% of the 2,158 respondents could have faulty information and almost 34% could even get a notice because of the errors in their tax forms.

Interest income is where many taxpayers are going wrong. Almost 30% of the respondents believed that interest of up to 10,000 from bank fixed deposits (FDs) is tax-free in a year. They should know that the exemption under Section 80TTA is only for the interest on their savings bank accounts. What they earn on fixed deposits and recurring deposits (FDs) is fully taxable. Similarly, almost 30% believe that the interest earned on tax-saving infrastructure bonds bought a few years ago under Section 80CCF is not taxable because they were tax-saving instruments. Wrong again. The bonds may have helped them save tax, but the interest is fully taxable and has to be reported. Nearly 45% of the 637 respondents who said so earn over 12 lakh a year and should be paying 30% on the income they think is tax-free. This is a common misconception. Our research shows that nine out of 10 taxpayers go wrong in reporting their interest income.

There is also a misconception that there is no need to report income on tax that has been deducted at source (TDS). But TDS is only 10% and if your income puts you in the 20% or 30% tax bracket, you have to pay additional tax. Of course, if the income is below the basic exemption limit, TDS will be refunded after the return is filed.

The other critical error is reporting income from a second house. Almost one out of five respondents believe there is no tax payable if a second house is lying vacant. Even if you haven't rented it out, you have to pay tax on the notional income based on the prevailing market rate in that location. From this year, the tax forms have a separate column for declaration of property and owners will not be able to avoid re porting them to the authorities. This rule about the tax on notional rent was always there. It is only that this year's tax forms have made it clear by providing a separate column for such property.

Taxpayers are also not clear about clubbing of income. More than 31% of the respondents believed there is no tax implication if they invest in a recurring deposit in their wife's name or open a fixed deposit in the name of a minor child. The income from such investments is treated as the income of the giver and taxed accordingly . Of the 668 respondents who got this wrong, more than 30% are in the highest tax bracket.

A significant 45% of respondents weren't clear about the mode of filing returns. Online filing is compulsory if income is above 5 lakh a year, you have foreign assets or are claiming a refund. Even if a physical return is accepted in the last-minute rush, it will ultimately be treated as an invalid return at the time of assessment. To be sure, not reporting a small amount of interest income or claiming a deduction incorrectly rank very low in the hierarchy of tax offences. At most, you will get a notice with an additional tax demand. There may even be a penalty under Section 271 (c) for concealment, but it depends on how the assessing officer views the transgression.

If the assessing officer is convinced that it was a genuine mistake and the taxpayer's intent was not to evade tax, he might not levy a penalty.

On the other hand, taxpayers need to extra careful about foreign assets. Uncovering black money is high on the government's agenda, and any slipup on reporting of foreign assets immediately puts you in the dock.

The logic used by the tax department is that anyone with foreign assets has high income and should not be spared if he has concealed income. To be sure, almost 89% of the respondents got this right. But that still leaves around 11% of taxpayers who might falter when it comes to declaring their foreign assets.

The department is keeping a close eye on accounts and assets held outside India. The new ITR-2 (income tax return form) requires you to give details of your foreign bank account's holding status (both as an owner and as a beneficiary), account opening date, interest accrued during the year and schedule and fields number under which the same income is reported.

Best Tax Saver Mutual Funds or ELSS Mutual Funds for 2015

1.ICICI Prudential Tax Plan

2.Reliance Tax Saver (ELSS) Fund

3.HDFC TaxSaver

4.DSP BlackRock Tax Saver Fund

5.Religare Tax Plan

6.Franklin India TaxShield

7.Canara Robeco Equity Tax Saver

8.IDFC Tax Advantage (ELSS) Fund

9.Axis Tax Saver Fund

10.BNP Paribas Long Term Equity Fund

You can invest Rs 1,50,000 and Save Tax under Section 80C by investing in Mutual Funds

Invest in Tax Saver Mutual Funds Online -

Invest Online

Download Application Forms

For further information contact Prajna Capital on 94 8300 8300 by leaving a missed call

---------------------------------------------

Leave your comment with mail ID and we will answer them

OR

You can write to us at

PrajnaCapital [at] Gmail [dot] Com

OR

Leave a missed Call on 94 8300 8300

---------------------------------------------

Invest Mutual Funds Online

Invest Any Mutual Fund Online

Download Mutual Fund Application Forms from all AMCs

Popular posts from this blog

Am you Required to E-file Tax Return?

Download Tax Saving Mutual Fund Application Forms Invest In Tax Saving Mutual Funds Online Buy Gold Mutual Funds Leave a missed Call on 94 8300 8300   Am I Required to 'E-file' My Return? Yes, under the law you are required to e-file your return if your income for the year is Rs. 500,000 or more. Even if you are not required to e-file your return, it is advisable to do so for the following benefits: i) E-filing is environment friendly. ii) E-filing ensures certain validations before the return is filed. Therefore, e-returns are more accurate than the paper returns. iii) E-returns are processed faster than the paper returns. iv) E-filing can be done from the comfort of home/office and you do not have to stand in queue to e-file. v) E-returns can be accessed anytime from the tax department's e-filing portal. For further information contact Prajna Capit...

IDFC - Long term infrastructure bonds - Tranche 2

IDFC - Long term infrastructure bonds What are infrastructure bonds? In 2010, the government introduced a new section 80CCF under the Income Tax Act, 1961 (" Income Tax Act ") to provide for income tax deductions for subscription to long-term infrastructure bonds and pursuant to that the Central Board of Direct Taxes passed Notification No. 48/2010/F.No.149/84/2010-SO(TPL) dated July 9, 2010. These long term infrastructure bonds offer an additional window of tax deduction of investments up to Rs. 20,000 for the financial year 2010-11. This deduction is over and above the Rs 1 lakh deduction available under sections 80C, 80CCC and 80CCD read with section 80CCE of the Income Tax Act. Infrastructure bonds help in intermediating the retail investor's savings into infrastructure sector directly. Long term infrastructure Bonds by IDFC IDFC issued an earlier tranche of these long term infrastructure bonds on November 12, 2010. This is the second public issue of long-te...

National Savings Certificate

National Savings Certificate Here's everything you need to know about the 5-year savings scheme offered by the Government This is a 5-year small savings scheme of the government. From 1 July 2016, a National Savings Certificate (NSC) can be held in the electronic mode too. Physical pre-printed NSC certificates have been discontinued and replaced with Public Provident Fund-like passbooks. What's on offer The minimum amount you can invest in them is Rs100 and there is no upper limit. Under this scheme, all deposits up to Rs1.5 lakh qualify for deduction under section 80C of the Income-tax Act, 1961. The interest earned is taxable. You can invest in multiples of Rs 100. These certificates can be owned individually, jointly and also on behalf of minors. The interest rates for all small savings schemes are released on a quarterly basis. The effective rate for NSC from 1 October to 31 December is 8%. The interest is calculated on an annual compounding basis and is given along w...

Mutual Fund Review: HDFC Index Sensex Plus

  In terms of size, HDFC Index Sensex Plus may be one of the smallest offerings from the HDFC stable. But that has not dampened its show, which has beaten the Sensex by a mile in overall returns   HDFC Index Sensex Plus is a passively managed diversified equity scheme with Sensex as its benchmark index. The fund also invests a small proportion of its equity portfolio in non-Sensex scrips. The scheme cannot boast of an impressive size and is one of the smallest in the HDFC basket with assets under management (AUM) of less than 60 crore. PERFORMANCE: Being passively managed and portfolio aligned to that of the benchmark, the performance of the index fund is expected to follow that of the benchmark and in this respect, it has not disappointed investors. Since its launch in July 2002, the fund has outperformed Sensex in overall returns by good margins.    While every 1,000 invested in HDFC Index Sensex Plus in July 2002 is worth 6,130 now, a similar amount invested in Sensex then wo...

Different types of Mutual Funds

You may not be comfortable investing in the stock market. It might not seem like your cup of tea. But you can start by investing in Mutual Funds. Many first-time investors invest in Mutual Funds. This is because they do not know how to invest in individual securities. Basic information on Mutual Funds People invest their money in stocks, bonds, and other securities through Mutual Funds. Each Fund has different schemes with specific objectives. Professional Fund Managers look after these schemes. Your Fund Manager could help you invest in a scheme that suits your financial goal. Functioning of Mutual Funds You could make money through Mutual Funds in different ways. A single Mutual Fund could hold many different stocks, bonds, and debentures. This minimizes the risk by spreading out your investment. You could earn dividends from stocks and interest from bonds. You could also earn capital by selling securities when their price increases. Usually, you could choose to sell your share any t...
Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...
Invest in Tax Saving Mutual Funds Download Any Applications
Transact Mutual Funds Online Invest Online
Buy Gold Mutual Funds Invest Now