The last date for filing income tax return for the financial year 2018-19 is July 31, 2019. Last month, the government had notified the ITR forms for FY19. It is advisable that taxpayers should not wait for the last date to file the return.

In order to avoid the last minute glitch and ensure a hassle-free process, start filing your ITR. Before planning to file, keep your important documents handy. It is important to note that ITR-1 and ITR-2 forms are now available on the e-filing website. Here is the list of documents you must collect beforehand.

1. The most important document for a salaried individual is Form 16. This form is useful for the details about tax deducted by your employer during the financial year. This form consists of two parts wherein Part A comprises of TDS, your permanent account number (PAN) details and TAN details of your employer. Part B includes details of gross salary breakup. Apart from this, Form 16 will also have a standard deduction of Rs 40,000 as well.

2. This year, ITR forms demand the source of interest income such as from savings account, fixed deposits (FD) or any other source from the taxpayers. Under the Section 80TTA of Income Tax Act, one can claim deduction up to Rs 10,000 on the interest earned from the bank or post office's saving account. However, a senior citizen can claim up to Rs 50,000 as a deduction on the interest income. It is important to note here that in case you do not receive interest certificates then you should get your passbook update. The updated passbook must contain details regarding the interest credited to your account till March 31, 2019.

3. While filling ITR-2 form, you might need your salary slips. The new form released by the income tax department asks to specify the nature of the salary income.

4. According to Section 139AA of the Income-tax department, it is mandatory to provide Aadhaar details. It is to be noted that from April 1, 2019, it is mandatory to quote Aadhaar number.

5. In order to claim the deducted TDS, the taxpayer should ensure that all the taxes which have been deducted in the financial year 2018-19 are reflecting against you PAN in Form 26AS. This form can be downloaded from TRACES website. It is a kind of consolidated annual tax statement.

6. While filing the return, make sure to specify all the bank accounts held by you. The details include name of the bank, bank account number, type of account and IFSC. In order to receive the funds, mention the IFSC correctly.

7. If the TDS has been deducted on interest earned from FDs, recurring deposit (RD), etc. over the specified limits in accordance with the existing tax laws then your bank will issue Form 16A giving you the details of the amount of TDS deducted.