Income Tax Return 2019: From slab rates to latest rules, know 10 key things before filing your ITR this year

The Income Tax Return 2019: The last date to file the ITR for 2018-19 was extended this year. Last month, the Income Tax Department extended the deadline of July 31 by one month to make it August 31. The income tax returns for the assessment year 2019-20 (the financial year 2018-19) is August 31, 2019. While there are only a few days left to file ITR and in case the individual fails to file an income tax return by August 31, a penalty of Rs 5,000 will be levied till December 31. The penalty shall further increase to Rs. 10,000 according to the Income Tax department, after December's deadline. 

Here are the 10 key things, you should know before filing your ITR this year: 

1. The Income Tax Department has requested people to file their income tax returns before the due date to avoid the last-minute rush.

2. The Income Tax Department has established an independent portal for e-filing of income tax returns. The taxpayers can log on to incometaxindiaefiling.gov.in for filing the income tax return online.

3. In the general category, individuals with annual income up to Rs. 2.5 lakh are not liable to pay income tax. In the senior citizen and super citizen categories, there is no tax on annual incomes up to Rs 3 lakh and Rs 5 lakh. 

4. There are 7 forms such as ITR 1, ITR 2, ITR 3, ITR 4, ITR 5, ITR 6 and ITR 7 - for filing of ITR, and one form - ITR-V - for verification, according to its website - incometaxindia.gov.in. 

5. This time, the income tax department has introduced pre-filled ITR (Income Tax Return) forms for a certain class of taxpayers. These pre-filled forms contain details of income and taxes paid by assessees during the year.

6. The tax department has, however, advised the taxpayers to verify the pre-filled data carefully and add any other taxable income which is not pre-filled.

7. As per the recent Budget, there will be an "interchangeability of PAN and Aadhaar". The ones who do not have PAN (Permanent Account Number) card can now file income tax returns by quoting their Aadhaar number.

8. The Income Tax Department has also mandated the public to verify the income tax return after submitting it. The taxman offers several ways such as mail, net banking, ATM and Aadhaar - to verify an ITR once it is submitted.

9. Once the return is filed and verification of the same is duly completed, the Central Processing Centre, Bangalore, of the Income Tax Department, processes the income tax return.

10. After filing an ITR online, a user can find out the status of the submission through the Income Tax Department website.