Few Important Points For You To Note While Filing Tax Return

The department of Income tax has classified the person of age 60 years and above as senior citizen and those over 80 years of age as super senior citizen. For FY 2017-18, senior citizens earning an annual income of less than Rs. 3 lakh are not required to pay tax and for superior senior citizen the limit is set at Rs. 5 lakhs i.e. tax liability arises only if their income is over Rs. 5 lakhs.

The procedure to file income tax remains the same irrespective of the citizen category. However, the sources of income for a senior citizen may be different and comprise interest income from bank, pension income, dividends or rental income.

For those senior citizens who earn an annual income of over Rs. 3 lakh and earn rental income from one or more property, ITR form 1 is to be filled while those who make income from other sources as well as capital gains from profession or business other than salary, rental income from property or pension are required to file and submit ITR 2 form online.

Also, in an instance where the tax-payer fails to file the return by the due date, Income tax allows filing of the income tax return after the due date under the provisions of Section 139(4) that permits tax return filing before the completion of assessment or before the assessment year whichever is earlier.

If facing query per se income tax refund, the website of income tax features a link using which taxpayers can know the status of their refund. The status can be checked after 10 days from the date the refund is sent but it is disbursed only after the complete processing of refund by the tax department.

Super-senior citizens are allowed to file tax returns via offline mode also. In yet another instance where the combined income of an HUF or individual for a FY is less than Rs. 5 lakhs and are not making any claim for refund amount, then also income tax return can be filed offline.