What is an Income Tax Return?

ITR is an Income tax return form that people use to declare their income and assets to the IT department in India. It contains information about the taxpayers' financial transactions. ITRs are fundamentally taxpayers' self-declaration of their earnings, assets, refund to be claimed, and appropriate taxes paid. While it is generally completed electronically, senior citizens can do it manually as well.

Who Needs to File Income Tax Return?

Not everyone is required to file an ITR. Taxpayers can decide whether or not they need to file an ITR based on a variety of variables. However it is mandatory to file ITR if you satisfy any of the below conditions:

• An individual whose income exceeds the basic exemption limit of 2.5 Lakhs/ 3 Lakhs / 5 lakhs as per the applicable taxable limit.
• An individual who owns assets outside of India and has a source of income from outside must file an ITR.
• An individual who pays more than Rs. 1 lakh in electricity bills must file an income tax return in a fiscal year.
• Assesses who deposit over 1 crore in one or more bank accounts in a financial year must file an ITR.
• International travel expenses- If you spend more than 2 Lakhs on overseas travel during the fiscal year, you should file an income tax return.

Nonetheless, as stated earlier, there are a lot of benefits to filing your tax returns on time. Therefore, it is imperative that regardless of whether you fall in the category of the taxpayer or not, you should file your ITR.

Benefits of Filing Income Tax Returns on Time in India

• Avoid Penalty
  Individuals and businesses can avoid significant fines by filingITRs on time. If you file your ITR after the deadline, you may be charged a late fee of up to INR 5,000. It is in addition to any other interest imposed by the Act. Plus, you may be required to pay the interest amount on the penalty.
• Accidental Claim
  If you keep filing ITRs for yourself or your spouse, it will help you in the future if you happen to meet with an accident. Insurance companies require proof of income to calculate the amount of the claim. If any returns are missing, especially from the last three years, the claim amount may be reduced or even denied because the court accepts ITR as the only evidence.
  In addition, if a person who has been filing income tax returns regularly for the previous three years dies in a car accident, the government is obligated to compensate the deceased person's family. This compensation can be as high as three times the dead person's average income.
• Proof of Net Worth
  ITR is the most credible proof of your net worth or income. The salaried class benefits from Form 16, issued by their company, and serves as income verification. On the other hand, self-employed people can use the ITR filing form as proof of income. It provides a full breakdown of these persons' revenue and expenses for each fiscal year.
  It can be used for various purposes, like sourcing loans, getting insurance coverage, purchasing properties and other valuable assets, etc. If you are required to furnish a document of your income or net worth, ITR can solely be your resort.
• Getting Refund
  If your refund of TDS deducted earlier is due, you must file tax returns; otherwise, you will have to forgo your refund. Some taxpayers may prefer to invest primarily in fixed deposits. Tax is deducted at source (TDS) which is almost 10% on such investments.
  If you submit an ITR, you can save money on taxes on income from savings vehicles like term deposits. By submitting an ITR, you can also save money on your dividend income. While these instruments are taxed, ITR refunds can offset the tax liability.
  Even if your total gross income from various sources exceeds Rs 250,000/Rs 3,00,000/ Rs 5,00,000 and you have invested in such a way that your net income is less than Rs 250,000/Rs 3,00,000/ Rs 5,00,000 in a year, you can benefit from tax refunds and reclaim the money that was deducted at the source.
• Eligibility in Loan Application
  Regular ITR filing demonstrates consistent income, and the individual has been paying taxes on time. To approve loans and other credit lines, including overdrafts, bank credit cards, cash credits, and bill discounting options, financial institutions look for the previous year ITR’s of the applicant. Your home loan application may be refused if you cannot present any documentation, including ITR, that the lender/ bank deems necessary.
• Carry Forward Losses
  Taxpayers must file a tax return before the due date to carry forward specified losses that might occur due to sale of capital assets or a businesslosses etc. For instance, if you've made a profit on the sale of mutual funds or stock, you can offset it with losses from previous years by filing tax returns on time.
  The bottom line is that unadjusted losses (with some exclusions) cannot be carried over to subsequent years if tax returns are not filed on time. As a result, a tax return will be required in order to ensure that the losses are carried forward and adjusted in the future.
• Protection against Black Money
  In recent years, the government has taken several steps to combat black money and limit money outflows from India. With this goal in mind, the government made disclosing foreign assets owned by taxpayers in their annual income tax returns in the fiscal year 2011-12 compulsory. Additionally, even if you don’t own foreign assets and file your income tax return on time, your savings will never be considered black money by the IT department, as any income not reported to the department is considered black money.
• For Startup Funding
  Before funding your startup, financial institutions may demand to see your returns over the previous several years. These financial institutions and investors would want to study your business scalability, profitability, and other cost parameters from your business income tax return to ensure that the investment they are making is going in the right hands. It also verifies that a person is a tax-paying citizen of the country.
• Obtaining Government Tenders
  Contractors can have a strong track record of procuring large projects in their field of business, whether it's a service or works contract, but if they don’t submit tax returns on time, or the returns aren't filed at all, they may face serious consequences. It can be detrimental to their business.
  For contractors, these returns must be filed on time, extremely accurately, and audited (if necessary). This is especially essential when you are trying to obtain a government tender. The tender scrutiny committee may occasionally inspect this work, and it is a common practice to check the ITR of the last five to seven years.
• Buying Insurance with High Cover
  Purchasing a life insurance policy for Rs 50 lakh or Rs 1 crore has become the norm. These days, if you acquire a term policy with a total insured of Rs 50 lakh or more, life insurance companies, especially LIC, ask for ITR receipts. This is because the amount insured by a term policy is determined by several criteria, including the insurer's income.
• Growth of Nation
  Filing tax returns can significantly impact a nation’s development. More money flowing into the country means more revenue for the government, which means more money to spend on improving the country's infrastructure. For instance, the government of India collected 9.60 lakh crore in direct taxes in Financial Year 2022. This money helped develop infrastructure and aided in several national development projects.
• Credit Card Application
  A credit card is a financial instrument that is sought after by almost every individual, irrespective of the profession they are engaged in. An income tax return is one of the primary documents that one needs to furnish if there are problems with other income proofs. ITR also plays an essential role in determining a taxpayer's credit history through the Credit Information Bureau (India) Limited (CIBIL) score.
• Visa Application
  Most nations require ITR as one of the documents for issuing a Visa to an applicant. This gives the Visa processing officials information about your financial situation and income. The embassy will verify the applicant's income and confirm that they can cover the expenditures. Many foreign consulates want the last three years or the current year's income tax returns. The absence of any kind of return can decrease your chances of acquiring a visa, especially if you're applying for a visiting, investor, or work permit. This is mandatory if you plan to travel to the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, or Europe, or South East Asia.

Key Takeaways

• The income tax filing does not only have several benefits, but it is our responsibility too.
• It is important to file income tax returns to avoid late fees and penalties.
• Tax returns can help you in availing various services of credit cards, bank loans, and accidental claims
• If you want government tenders or funds for your startup, you should definitely have your tax returns filed online on the income tax portal.