Edunology - Saumya Aggarwal

Last year, Indian Government had made it mandatory to e-file income tax returns for assesses with an annual income of Rs 10 lakh and above. This time, the government the plan is to do the same for taxpayers with a taxable income above Rs 5 lakh.

The reason behind the move, said officials, was the fact that about 80 per cent of taxpayers who are not mandated to file e-returns are already doing so. There are 35 million taxpayers, of which about 1.8 million fall in the income tax slab of Rs 5-10 lakh. A similar number are in the above Rs 10 lakh category. 16 million people who electronically filed their returns last year, many had a taxable income of less than Rs 10 lakh.

The tax department was earlier expecting electronic returns to go up to 20 million this year. With this new provision, the number could go up further. E-filing will also enable faster processing of refunds.

Few pointers:

1. Don't panic: It is very simple to file returns online. If you are not comfortable, approach your Chartered Accountant.

2. No Digital signatures are required for filing online, you just need the send the online acknowledgement with signature to Income Tax department.

3. 5 Lakhs does not mean your CTC. It is net taxable income after deducting LTA, HRA, Medical etc.