Tax filing season is around the corner. It is the time you should start collecting all important documents and start making a mental note in order to avoid common mistakes while filing the income tax return (ITR) form. Don’t leave things to the last moment as any unnecessary delay can prove to be a costly mistake this year. To help you steer clear of common mistakes here is a dropdown list for the financial year 2017-2018.

HIGHLIGHTS
Disclose all sources of income while ITR filing

Choose the right ITR Form

Be careful while filling personal details in ITR form

Fill correct personal details
You need to provide accurate details about yourself ranging from your Aadhaar number to Permanent Account Number (PAN) on the ITR form. Any mismatch can result in rejection of your ITR form. You also need to be careful while submitting your bank account and IFSC details as any wrong information can lead to unnecessary delay in processing refund.

Football: Italy fail to qualify for a World Cup for the first time in 60 years
Sponsored By ZINC

Select right ITR form
Be careful while selecting the ITR form. This is because for different sources of income there are different ITR forms. For example: ITR 1, Sahaj form is for salaried employees having 1 house property or income from other sources of income below Rs 50 Lakhs. Deepak Jain – CEO of TaxManager.in, says, “If anyone has income from 2 house properties or income from capital gains would require to file ITR 2. If someone has to claim interest benefit from house property more than Rs 200000 – ITR 2 has to be filed to carry forward as loss from house property any interest paid more than Rs 200000 – in ITR 2.”

Claim right deductions
You should be clear about what all can be deducted under section 80C. Any wrong deduction can put you in a spot later on. For example: only employees contribution under Employees’ Provident Fund is eligible for deduction under 80C. You are not eligible to claim a deduction for employers’ contribution. Similarly, you can claim a deduction only for the principal portion of a home loan under 80C. Interest on the home loan is eligible for deduction under Section 24 of the Income Tax Act.

Reconcile TDS with Form 26AS
The statement 26AS shows details of taxes deducted from your income by an employer, a bank, or even a tenant. It is issued under Section 203AA of the Income-tax Act, 1961. Apart from tax deducted at source it also shows self-assessment tax and details of Annual Information Return (AIR), which mostly shows high-value transactions. Always download your 26AS statement from the website of the department of income tax and reconcile whatever TDS has been deducted with 26AS. In case of any mismatch pay the required amount of tax.

Sometimes we take for granted that exempted income need not be reported. This is the wrong approach as you need to mention the exempted income even if you do not need to pay tax on it. And this financial year you need to be extra careful as ITR forms ask for much more detailed information compared to previous years and any discrepancy can lead to a heavy penalty

In addition to exempt income, we must disclose all sources of income in ITR. Jain, says, “Department of Income Tax does get all sources of income tracked through various sources which we tend to forget by mistake or hide due to tax payable arises out of the addition of income. For example: When we trade in stocks and other assets any transactions done in the stock market are linked with our PAN and all details are provided by the Demat depository companies to the Department of Income Tax in AIR.”

Select right assessment year
Last but not the least, be very careful while filing the assessment year. The minor mistake can lead to unnecessary future hurdles. Assessment year is the year following the financial year in which you assess your income and pay taxes. For example, for the financial year 2017-2018 your assessment year will be 2018-2019.