Before you file your tax return, note the key changes in Form 16

Part B of Form 16 has been amended seeking more details about the allowances exempt under section 10 such as HRA, LTA, etc and deductions allowed under Chapter VI-A of the Income Tax Act, 1961.

Form 16 is the annual salary TDS certificate issued by an employer to an employee. The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has notified amendments in Form 16. The new Form 16 is made effective from 12 May 2019. Employers issuing Form 16 for the financial year 2018-19 will have to issue them in the new format.

Part B of Form 16 has been amended seeking more details about the allowances exempt under section 10 such as HRA, LTA, gratuity etc and deductions allowed under Chapter VI-A of the Income Tax Act, 1961 i.e. section 80 deductions. The important changes are discussed below:

Exemptions under section 10:

Presently, an employer has the option to mention the nature of the allowances exempt under section 10 with the respective amounts. While some employers provided complete disclosure, others aggregated the allowances and disclosed the net amount exempt under section 10. ..(Read More)

Deductions under Chapter VI-A:

Presently, employers have the option to present the details of deductions under section 80C to section 80U of the Act. Similar to the disclosure of exempt allowances, some employers provided complete disclosure of the deductions, and others aggregated the allowances and disclosed the total amount of deductions allowed as a single line item in Form 16..(Read More)

File your I-T return on time or you may end up in jail like this jeweller

It is mandatory for all registered taxpayers to file income tax returns every year, except for those who are over 80 years of age and do not have any source of income from a business or profession

Current Affairs: If you have received a notice for not filing income tax returns within due date, you might want to pay heed to it. In what could probably be the first such instance, a director of Mumbai-based firm Ms Shah Time and Jewels was sentenced to jail for three months on Wednesday for not filing income tax returns within the due date for the assessment year 2014-15, according to The Times of India.

When repeated notices sent to the firm and its director Paresh C Shah did not elicit any response, the deputy commissioner of Income Tax on November 22, 2017, filed a show cause notice seeking an explanation as to why sanction for their provision should not be given under the Income Tax Act. After that also went unanswered, a complaint was filed against Shah and the firm.

The Ballard Pier magistrate court rejected Shah’s defence of ‘lack of knowledge’ and held him and the firm guilty of deliberate non-compliance. The court observed that imprisonment under the Income Tax Act was an exceptional and extreme move and was given only when it established deliberate failure to file returns…

Filing Income Tax returns

It is mandatory for all registered taxpayers to file income tax returns every year, except for those who are over 80 years of age and do not have any source of income from a business or profession. For the year assessment year 2019-20, the last date of filing returns is July 31. You can pay it online as well uploading your Form 16.

Income Tax dept revises Form 16: Here’s all you need to know

The amended form will come into effect from May 12, 2019. This means the income tax returns for financial year 2018-19 will have to be filed on the basis of revised Form 16

The Income Tax department has revised Form 16 by adding various details, including income from house property and remuneration received from other employers, thereby making it more comprehensive to help check tax avoidance. The amended form will come into effect from May 12, 2019. This means the income tax returns for financial year 2018-19 will have to be filed on the basis of revised Form 16. Form 16 is a certificate issued by employers, giving details of employees’ TDS (tax deducted at source) usually by mid June and is used in filing I-T returns.

Here’s the revised Form 16

The move is aimed at stricter scrutiny of claims made by assessees to check tax avoidance or evasion. The Income-tax Act, 1961 requires every employer to issue a certificate giving details of salary along with the tax deducted at source (TDS) of each its employee in Form 16. 

It will also include segregated information regardingdeductions under various tax saving schemes, investments in tax savings instruments, different allowances received by the employee as well as income from other sources. The I-T department has already notified income tax return forms for fiscal 2018-19. Salaried class and those who do not have to get their accounts audited, will have to file their ITRs by July 31 this year.

Meanwhile, the income tax department has also modified Form 24Q, which is furnished by employer to the tax department. It will include additional details like Permanent Account Number (PAN) of non-institutional entities from whom the employee has taken loan for buying or constructing housing property….

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