File your Income-tax Return cautiously

CHANDIGARH: Filing of Income-tax Return is an annual feature for all tax-payers whose Gross Total Income exceeds basic exemption limit. Further, tax payers who suffer loss during the year are also required to file their returns before due date.



The due date for filing of Income-tax Returns is 30th September for companies and for assessees whose accounts require audit, and it is 31st July for all other assessees including non-auditable business entities, salaried class persons and pensioners.

Any taxable income earned during a financial year i.e., from 1st April to 31st March is required to be reported to the Income-tax Department through specified forms, known as Income-tax Return Forms (ITRs). The Central Board of Direct Taxes has notified Income-tax Return Forms, Form Nos. ITR 1 to ITR 8 for filing of returns pertaining to income earned during the Financial year 2008-09 (Assessment Year 2009-10).  These amended Income-tax Return Forms require amongst other, the quoting of the relevant TDS/TCS Unique Transaction Number (UTN) for every TDS or TCS claim to be made by assessees. 

It is to be noted that no credit for any TDS or TCS will be allowed if UTN is not mentioned by tax-payers in their Income-tax Returns.  In other words, the credit for any TDS or TCS claim will be allowed only if the assessee quotes the relevant UTN for every TDS and TCS claim and the said UTN matches with the UTN in the database of the Income-tax Department.  The said UTN is required to be furnished to the tax-payers by the person responsible for making deduction or collection of tax at source.  It is required to be mentioned in Form Nos. 16/16A/27D, as the case may be. 

Tax-payers, therefore, are advised to ensure whether UTN has been mentioned by the deductor/collector in recently amended Form Nos. 16/16A/27D, or not.  If not, then the Tax Deductor / collector be asked to send information regarding UTN as soon as the same is received by him.  The said information can also be had from National Securities Depository Limited (NSDL).

Further, tax-payers are advised to take extra care while filing their Income-tax Returns for Financial year 2008-09 and fill up each and every column in the return form correctly.  They should not enclose with these return forms any statement showing the computation of income or tax, copies of balance-sheet, profit and loss account, proof for deductions claimed by them under Sections 80U to 80U, TDS/TCS Certificates, proof of payment of advance-tax or self-assessment tax.

Since no documents are required to be furnished along with the return of income, the credit for Tax Deducted at Source (TDS), Tax Collected at Source (TCS), Advance-tax and Self-assessment Tax (hereinafter collectively referred to as ‘pre paid taxes’) shall be allowed on the basis of information relating to pre-paid taxes furnished in the relevant schedules of the return forms subject to matching with the information provided by the deductor, collector and banks.  Tax-payers, therefore, are advised to ensure that the information relating to pre-paid taxes is complete in all respects and correct.  The Income-tax Department has created a system of Unique Transaction Number (UTN) and Challan Identification Number (CIN) with a view to enable the matching of information relating to pre-paid taxes furnished by tax-payers.  Assessees must ensure that the deductor/ collector has provided them with separate UTNs in respect of each TDS and TCS transaction.  Similarly, they must also ensure that the UTN for every TDS and TCS claim in the return is correctly filled in.  Similarly, they must ensure that they correctly fill in the CIN in respect of payments of advance-tax and self-assessment tax.     

 Rakesh Chander Sood
 Income-tax & Financial Consultant
 House No. 272, Sector 33A, Chandigarh
Mobile  094173 51016