Whether you want to apply for any loan, credit card, or even travel abroad, you must have your income tax return in place.
But simply filing the income tax alone does not rid you of your responsibilities. A few more steps need to be looked at after filing your income tax in India.
#1 Don’t Forget to Verify your Return
Simply filing your returns is not enough. The process is not complete until you have verified your returns.
So how do you complete the verification process?
You can mail a duly signed copy of your Acknowledgement form or Form V to the Income Tax department office in Bengaluru to verify your returns. You must remember to use ordinary post or speed post to mail the form.
Alternatively, you can also e-verify your returns using Aadhar-based OTP, net banking, bank or Demat account number. You can also generate the e-code using ATMs of select banks to verify your returns.
You can download the Acknowledgement form or Form V from the Income tax website.
Complete the verification within 30 days of filing your income tax return. The new rule came in force from 1st August 2022 onwards.
Taxpayers must verify their returns if their books of accounts are audited under section 44AB of the Income Tax Act. Use a Digital Signature Certificate immediately after filing the return to verify.
#2 Secure Your Income Tax Documents for Future Use
Once you have filed and verified your income tax return, you must keep all your relevant documents and records in a secured place.
While you may have provided all the required information in your income return, there is still a chance that the tax authorities may question you about the records going back as far as eight years.
Therefore, it makes sense to keep your documents safe and handy.
Secure the following documents for future use:
- Form 16 and Form 12B
- A copy of the tax payment challan
- TDS (Tax Deducted at Source), Form 16A
- Non-taxable (Tax Exempt) documents
- Bank Account Statements
- Gifts deeds
#3 Revise Your Return If You Think You Have Made A Mistake
In a hurry to file your returns, you may have missed claiming a deduction or mentioning an income in your ITR.
Do not stress, as you can revise your return. However, you can do it only if the income tax department has not processed the return yet. There is no particular return form or a specific process to follow to file a revised return. You must log into your account on the income tax filing website and choose the ‘Revised Return’ option.
The process is more or less the same as filing an ordinary income tax in India.
Remember to have your e-filing acknowledgement number and the date of filing of the original return handy, as you will be required to enter it to file the revised return.
Generally, you can file the revised return within three months before the end of the assessment year or before the completion of the assessment, whichever is earlier. Once you file the revised return, remember that you must verify it also. The process is similar to verifying your original ITR.
#4 Explore Rectification as a Way If You Need to Pay More Taxes
You may notice an error in your returns after the income tax department has processed them. Or perhaps the assessing officer made an error in the calculation.
The easiest way to identify the mismatch would be under the 143(1) intimations, where you can juxtapose your tax calculations with that of the income tax department.
If the calculations are accurate, then you can pay your taxes. However, if you missed out on mentioning an expense or mistakenly entered it as a deduction in the returns, which could lead to more tax demand from the department.
The best way to move forward is to file a rectification request in matters such as this. You can do it within four years from the end of the financial year; the tax department passed the ITR you want to amend. Remember to cite either your disagreement with the department’s calculations or mistakes committed while filing the original return.
You should receive a response from the income tax department requests within six months from the end of the month when you submitted the rectification application.
#5 Remember to Track Refunds If You Are Eligible for It
Finally, if filing your income tax return was glitch-free, and you have paid more taxes than was due to the government, you would be eligible to receive a refund. You can check the status of your refund on the new income tax website or the NSDL portal by furnishing your PAN card information.
Generally, the refunds are credited to your registered bank account within 20-45 days after the ITR is processed. However, in case of delays, you are entitled to an interest of 0.5% on your tax refund. Explore more about income tax concepts with our blog.
Final Thoughts
Individuals who fall under the purview of income tax are liable to file their Income Tax Returns (ITR) every year. Not filing the ITR may lead the Income Tax Department to issue a notice imposing a penalty on you.