1) Not reporting exempted income: The interest income from your savings bank accounts is exempted from tax up to Rs 10,000 a year but you have to report it in your return. All interest income from investments such as fixed deposits and recurring deposits are fully taxable and has to be reported. If you had long-term capital gain from equities – which are exempt from tax -report it in your return.
2) Clubbing of income: If you invested in the name of your non-working spouse, remember that the income is supposed to be clubbed in your income and taxed as per your slab. Not reporting it may fetch you tax notice.
3) Not disclosing foreign income and assets: You are required to report details of any income which is derived or earned from outside India, plus the details of all the immovable property or any capital asset held at any time during the year outside India.
4) Not mentioning exempted retirement income: If you have received lumpsum money from investments like your public provident fund or gratuity during the year, do report them, say experts.
5) Not reporting gift received over Rs 50,000: Any gift received over Rs 50,000 in the hands of the receiver is fully taxable, provided it has not been received from a close relative or on account of marriage. (Read more).
6) Not matching details with Form 26AS: It is also an important document that you need to check before filing return. It is basically your tax credit statement which shows all taxes received by the Income Tax Department under your permanent account number (PAN). You can download it from the tax department’s website. All tax deductions and high-value transaction get reported in this form.
7) This year a new Schedule – AL (assets and liabilities) – has been added in the income tax forms in which the tax payer earning more than Rs 50 lakh a year has to report all his/her assets and liabilities. Don’t forget to fill this column if your income for the year was more than Rs 50 lakh in financial year 2015-16.
8) Double check your personal details: Make sure you have entered your personal details such as your name, permanent account number (PAN) and address correctly.
9) Fill up the correct form. There are as many as nine income tax forms to choose from. So if you are not sure which one to choose, take the help of an expert.
10) Remember that tax filing is not complete until you verify your tax return. When you submit your tax return, you receive the ITR-V (acknowledgement) which needs to be verified within 120 days of tax filing. You can simply sign it and send it to the Bengaluru office of tax department or e-verify it through net banking, ATM or electronic verification code.
[“source-ndtv”]