Income Tax Return Filling online: Avoid these 6 mistakes, ensure smooth process

Income Tax Return  Filing: Time to buckle up as the last day to file your income tax returns for 2018-19 is not so far away. The taxpayers need to file their taxes latest by July 31, 2019. People often tend to make mistakes while filing their Income tax, mostly due to a lot of documentation, confusion, lack of knowledge and last minute rush. Therefore, it is always advisable to begin the process as early as possible. It helps in avoiding last-minute rush and missing out on important claims and other key components. 

If a mistake is committed by the taxpayer, it can lead to the issuance of notice from the Income Tax department or a hefty fine. So, here are some mistakes that you should avoid in order to proceed with a smoother process.

6 common mistakes that you should avoid while filing ITR- 

1. Mistakes in bank details: The bank details given by the taxpayer in the filling should be correct along with with the Indian financial system code (IFSC) details. Incorrect bank account details or mistakes in this area can lead to a serious problem. In case of mistakes, your refunds may take longer, stopped or transferred to wrong accounts. 
  
2. Wrong ITR form: The Income Tax Department provides around eight forms to file your tax. Each form serves a different purpose and is meant for a different type of taxpayer. The forms are names as ITR-1, ITR-2, ITR-3, ITR-4, ITR-5, ITR-6, ITR-7 and ITR-V. For example, the ITR-1 or SAHAJ is to be filled by the resident individuals with total income for the given assessment year including salary or pension, one house property or the income from the other sources. So it is highly important to know about your tax category and fill the correct form.

3. Mismatch in personal details on ITR form: Wrong personal details while filling the income tax return is a blunder and should be avoided. Many times due to last minute rush and confusion, taxpayers commit errors in the details like name, address, PAN, email ID, etc, which can lead to the rejection of ITR form by the IT department. This could lead to loss of refunds, non-payment of taxes or notice by the IT department. The name on the return should be as per PAN and email-id should be mentioned to receive all important notifications.

4. Declaration of all income sources: It is mandatory to declare all your income sources while filling the income tax. This is the most common mistake made by the taxpayers in India. According to the Income Tax Act, the income from other sources includes interest earned on a savings account, fixed deposits (FDs), insurance and public provident fund (PPF). However, on fixed deposits, TDS of 10 per cent is applied. 

5. Filling for a wrong year: Some people often get confused on the year at the time of filing income tax returns. One should always remember that the financial year of your income is the previous year and the year in which your income is assessed, the return is filed is known an assessment year. So do not commit this mistake and file it as per the correct year.

6. Property declaration: In case you own more than one house property, you will have to pay a tax on it. Even if it is occupied by your tenant or by the relatives, the taxpayer is liable to pay tax on the property and should declare the same while filling the return.