The Income Tax returns for 2015-16 (assessment year 2016-17) were originally to be filed by July 31st 2016. But in view of the day-long strike at public sector banks, the deadline has been extended to August 5. So, to make the optimum utilization of this time, also consider the following ten things while filing your Income Tax Return for this year:-
1) If you are a salaried person, you need Form 16, which is issued by the employer (downloaded from TRACES). It contains your salary details along with the TDS (tax deducted at source) details. If you have worked for more than one employer during the year you have to collect the Form 16 from all the employers you have worked with in the financial year for which you are filing the return. Don’t forget to collect part B of your Form 16 which contains all the details regarding your allowances and perquisites.
2) Don’t forget to collect Form 16A which provides details of the TDS deducted on account of any income that you have received apart from the salary income. For example, collect the form from the bank or your tenant on rental receipts if it/he/she has deducted TDS on such income.
3) You are also required to report the interest income that you have earned on your savings and fixed deposits. For this you need your bank statement and interest certificate from the bank.
4) If you have received any other income such as dividend, rent or gift above Rs 50,000, you need to give details about it in your tax return. Some of the income like dividend income is tax exempt but you have to report them in your return.
5) Also check your Form 26AS which is an important document. You need to check it before filing return. It is basically your tax credit statement which shows all taxes received by the Income Tax Department on your behalf. You can download it from the tax department’s website https://incometaxindiaefiling.gov.in/e-Filing/UserLogin/LoginHome.html after logging into your account. All tax deductions and high-value transactions get reported in this form. If you find any mismatch in the TDS certificate received from the employer or other parties such as banks, tenant etc, take the necessary action to rectify it.
6) If you have sold any property, shares and mutual funds during the year, you need to keep details of the transactions for computation of capital gains tax.
7) Don’t forget to claim the deductions for all the tax saving investment you have made during the year. For this purpose, you need to keep handy all the documents related to your investments made during the year. Further, if you have availed loans such as home loan and education loan, keep the bank statements to avail deduction for interest and principal repaid during the year.
8) Form this year, the Income Tax Department has made it mandatory that the assesses with income over Rs 50 lakhs during the year will have to give details of their movable (such as cash, jewellery and vehicle) and immovable (land and building) assets in the tax return.
9) You are also required to report details of any other 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.
10) Don’t forget to claim the deduction under Section 80TTA for the interest earned on savings bank account up to the value of Rs 10,000/-

For any information or query in respect of the aforesaid matter, you may speak in person with
CA. Bharat Poplani on 96463-80245 or mail him at ca.bharat@bjpassociates.com or follow him at https://www.facebook.com/bjpassociates