Checklist of the most important documents required to file your ITR

Your income tax return documents will differ  based on your earning sources  but ertain documents are mandatory for every taxpayer, irrespective of income sources.The last date to file ITR for individuals is 31st July unless extended by the government.  For salaried employees,  it is necessary to prepare and gather various documents such as salary/income details, bank statements, and previous tax statements.

Here is a list of such common ITR documents that are required to file ITR in FY 2022-23 (AY 2023-24) for salaried employees:

 PAN Card

PAN is not only required to file your returns but also to deduct TDS and should be linked with your bank account for direct credit of income tax refund (if any). It is issued by the Income Tax Department, and a salaried employee can find the PAN number either on a PAN card, Form 26AS, Form 16, Form 12BB, etc. However, as per the recent amendment by the Govt, taxpayers can also file the ITR with their Aadhaar number instead of their PAN number, provided the two are linked.

 

Aadhaar

According to Section 139AA of the Income Tax Act, individuals need to provide his/her Aadhaar card details while filing the returns. If you do not have your Aadhaar card but have applied for the same, you must provide the enrolment ID in your IT returns. Linking PAN and Aadhar helps in verifying your income tax return online through an OTP.

Form 16 

Form-16A is issued for TDS deducted on payments other than salaries, such as income from recurring deposits, fixed deposits, etc. "If a person sells his property, then Form-16B is issued. It has details about TDS deducted from the amount paid to the seller. Form 16C is a TDS certificate that reflects the TDS deducted on rent @5% by an individual or HUF under section 194IB," according to Tax2win, an ITR filing portal by Fisdom.

Form 16A is issued by deductors like banks, contractors, etc. 

Form 16B, on the other hand, is issued by the buyer.

A  person deducting TDS on rent is required to furnish Form 16C to the payee within a period of 15 days from the date of furnishing the Challan cum statement in Form 26QC. "The details of TDS can alternatively be fetched from your Form 26AS," added Tax2win.

Form 26AS and AIS/TIS

It is an annual tax statement like a tax passbook that has details of all the taxes you have deposited against your PAN. These include:

a.) TDS deducted by the bank

b.) TDS deducted by the employer

c.) TDS deducted by other organizations from the payments done by you

Taxpayers should ensure that all the taxes deducted in the financial year are reflected against the PAN in Form-26AS. In case of a mismatch, you will not be able to claim the tax credit for the TDS deduction. Therefore, the same should be rectified by getting in touch with the deductor.

Bank Account Details

It is mandatory to provide details of all active bank accounts in the ITR. You are required to provide details such as your bank name, account number, IFSC, account type and the number of account that you hold. Bank details are used to validate your income details, high volume transactions, etc. You also need to select one primary account from the accounts mentioned wherein the Income Tax refund may be credited (in case any) by the Income Tax Department.

Bank Statement/Passbook

Bank account statements/passbook is required at the time ITR filing to know interest earned on savings account, interest income on fixed deposits, etc. during a financial year. Other documents related to interest income include income statement for fixed deposits.TDS certificate issued by banks and others

Investment Proofs

"Tax savings investment and expenditure proofs such as receipt of life insurance premium paid, receipt of medical insurance, Public Provident Fund passbook, fixed deposit receipt, home loan repayment certificate/receipt, donation paid receipt, tuition fee paid receipt, mutual fund consolidated account statement, education loan repayment certificate, etc. are essential to claim deduction when filing ITR. However, these deductions can be claimed only if you opt for the old tax regime when filing ITR," said Paisabazaar.

"The investment made under PPF, NSC, ULIPS, ELSS, LIC qualify for deductions under Section 80C. Make sure you have the slips, receipts of all the investment made for tax saving purpose. Also, these documents should be preserved for a couple of years for the safe side," said ClearTax.

ClearTax listed down documents at hand to claim the following expenses as deductions :

Your contribution to Provident Fund

Your children’s school tuition fees

Life insurance premium payment

Stamp-duty and registration charges

Principal repayment on your home loan

Equity Linked Savings Scheme/Mutual funds investment

The maximum amount that can be claimed under Section 80C is Rs 1.5 lakhs.

Generally, these proofs are declared and submitted by employees to their employers to avoid higher TDS on their salary. The proofs submitted are mentioned in Part B of Form 16 and the Income Tax department uses this information and pre-fills it in the ITR form. However, in case you miss declaring any tax-saving proof, then you can claim it at the time of ITR filing.

Other Investment Documents

Interest paid on housing loan: Interest on a housing loan is eligible for tax saving up to Rs 2,00,000. This is for a self-occupied house. For let out or deemed let out property, there is no limit of interest on housing loan.

From FY 2017-18, the total loss from house property available for set off against other income is capped at Rs 2 lakhs and therefore, interest on housing loan is eligible for tax saving up to Rs 2,00,000 for let out a property as well.

Education loan interest payments
 

Stock trading statement: The stock trades that were made during the year may be taxed under Capital Gain.

Capital Gains Details

If you have sold shares, securities, or property, it will result in a capital gain or losses. For the same, you need to have documents like broker statements, property sale deeds, etc.
 

The documents which are needed for Capital Gain Income are

Property/ Gold/ Silver sold: Sale and purchase agreements/deeds; Calculation of capital gain is done based on the purchase price, sale price, cost of improvement and transfer expenses, etc; Registration details

Equity shares sold: capital gain statements from the broker.

Mutual Funds sold: Capital Gain Statement of Mutual Fund

Rental Income

If you are earning an income from your house or property, it should be reported while filing ITR. Also, in case you are paying rent, don't forget to collect receipts from the landlord. However, these documents are not required to be given with the ITR but should be kept to be submitted to your employer or Income Tax Department in case required in the future.

Foreign Income

The documents for any income earned in or from a foreign country during a job deployment or for part of the year should be furnished with your tax consultant to help you claim the benefit of tax credits and DTAA. The documents for any foreign income need to be arranged with the employer or contractor.

Dividend Income

If you have invested in shares or mutual funds and have earned dividend income on the same, it should be reported while filing your income tax return. Details of dividends earned during the financial year can be taken from your broker statement or Demat account summary.

Details of Investment in Unlisted Shares

In case you were holding unlisted shares during the financial year, you need to disclose the same in your ITR. In this case, you also need to file your tax return using ITR-2 instead of ITR-1