Consider these 9 things before investing in mutual funds!

The government has extended the last date of filing of income tax returns (ITR) for the fiscal year 2020-21 to December 31 from the earlier deadline of September 30. However, it is better to keep ready a few documents that you might need for filing tax returns and arranging them to avoid stress as the deadline approaches. Money9 gives you a list of the nine most important documents needed at the time of filing ITR. Apart from these, some might need more on a case-to-case basis.

Form 16

If you are a salaried professional, this is one of the most important documents required while filing ITR. Form 16 is basically a TDS or tax deducted at source certificate issued by the employer, providing details of your gross remuneration and TDS.

Even if no tax is deducted at the source of income, you can ask the employer to issue Form 16 to you. It will help significantly in filing accurate tax returns.

A regular Form 16 has two parts Part A and B. While Part A contains information pertaining to tax deductions by your employer, it also consists of PAN and TAN of employers. On the other hand, Part B consists of gross salary break-up details.

Salary slip

If you submit Form 16, then also keep your salary slips handy. These would provide information on allowances such as house rent and transport allowance, any other allowance, etc. You can find the breakup of all such allowances on your salary slips.

Savings account statement

Almost all of us have more than one savings bank accounts along with a salary account. So, before filing ITR you should accumulate all the savings bank account statements from all the banks. These statements will help you to file ITR. With these at hand, you won’t need to remember any transaction for filing ITR.

Interest certificates

Interest certificates are issued by banks and contain information related to interest income from savings bank account, post office savings account, fixed deposits and recurring deposits all of which are taxable beyond the current ceiling, i.e. Rs 10,000 in a fiscal year.

If you have updated your savings account statement from the bank and post office then you will get these figures easily. Besides if you have FD in some financial institutions apart from banks and post offices, ask them for the statement.

Home loan statement

Those who have active home loans should collect the loan statement from the bank as it will provide break-up details of principal and interest repayment. Under section 24 of the Income Tax Act, a taxpayer’s liability comes down to timely repayment of loan installments. An individual can claim up to Rs 2 lakh tax deduction through home loan repayment. However, a taxpayer is required to provide the exact amount of interest repaid in ITR.

Insurance certificates

Under section 80D of the Income Tax Act buying a health insurance premium can also get you deductions over Rs 25,000 for self, spouse and child. Additionally, one can claim up to Rs 50000 for parent’s insurance coverage. So, if you have purchased any health insurance for your family and for your parents, you should furnish details of the insurance certificate to claim the additional deduction.

Education loan interest certificate

The deduction can also be claimed for any interest paid towards education loans under section 80E. So, if you have an education loan, then you should ask for the interest certificate from the bank and submit it while filing the ITR.

Form 16A, 16B, 16C

If TDS is deducted on any income other than salary over a specified limit the bank will issue a Form 16A with exact details of the amount of TDS deducted. Meanwhile, if you have recently sold any property belonging to you, the buyer has to issue a Form 16B. If you are earning income from house rent, you should ask the tenant to give you a Form 16C.

Form 26AS

Form 26AS is basically a consolidated annual tax statement. It has information on taxes deposited against your PAN card. Before filing the income tax return, you should crosscheck that all deducted taxes reflect against your PAN in Form 26AS. Any mismatch would disallow individuals from claiming the tax credit.

Important points

Apart from these nine important documents, your investment-related documents (Equity market, Mutual funds, Gold Bonds, G-sec Bond, Life and term insurance, etc) should be kept handy, otherwise, you may face problems while filling up the ITR, advised tax consultant Arvind Agarwal.

IT deduction is available also against the tuition fees payable for your child. So keep the school/college fee receipt handy for the exact amount.

Last but not least Aadhaar card has become mandatory for filing ITR under section 139AA of the Income Tax Act, 1961. So make Aadhaar and PAN with you while filing ITR, added Agarwal.