ITR Filing for 2023-24: Key documents required for income tax returns

Section 139(1) of the Income Tax Act mandates every taxpayer to furnish their return of income on or before the prescribed due date (i.e., 31st July, 31st October or 30th November of relevant Assessment Year).

Individual taxpayers who are not required to audit their financials, need to take note of the following documents that they may require while filing their tax returns:

Permanent Account Number (PAN Card) and Aadhaar Card

Section 139A(5) of the I-T Act requires every person to quote his/her PAN in all his/her returns, challans and any other document as may be prescribed by the I-T Act. Section 139AA(1) of the I-T Act requires every person who is eligible to obtain Aadhaar card to quote the same in his/her return of income. Accordingly, taxpayers are also required to link their PAN card with Aadhaar card to receive income tax refund and interest thereon.

Form 16/ Form 16A

Form 16 is issued by the employer has all the details pertaining to salary and TDS deducted on the same, whereas Form 16A is issued by TDS deductors such as banks, contractors, etc., and includes information pertaining to TDS deducted on payments other than salaries, such as income from recurring deposits, fixed deposits, etc.

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Form 26AS/ Annual Information Statement (AIS)/ Tax Information Statement (TIS)

Form 26AS displays details of property purchases, high-value investments, and TDS/TCS transactions carried out during the financial year. AIS additionally includes savings account interest, dividend, rent received, purchase and sale transactions of securities/immovable properties, foreign remittances etc.

Further, TIS summarizes the tax information available with the Income Tax Department pertaining to a particular individual and thereby includes details of the taxpayer’s tax returns filed, taxes paid, refunds received, and other relevant information.

Taxpayers are advised to reconcile these documents and in case of discrepancy between details maintained by the taxpayer and Form 26AS, the taxpayer can rectify such difference by requesting the deductor to file TDS/TCS correction statement. Further, in case of inaccuracy in AIS, the taxpayer can correct the same by providing feedback on the Income Tax Portal.

Dividend Statement, Rental income and details of any other passive income including capital gains (if any)

Taxpayers receiving dividend income and/or rental income should keep their demat account summary or dividend statement, rental income details and details of any other income (including capital gains, if any) handy while filing their income tax returns. Although such documents are not required to be submitted to the Income Tax Department, such documents should be preserved for future references.

Interest certificate

Taxpayers claiming tax benefits on interest on home loans, etc. would be required to maintain interest certificates pertaining to the same.