How to claim Tax Refunds

Since filing for tax returns has been made mandatory, you can claim the refund while filing your return itself. That is why you must mention your bank account number and the bank MICR code while filing the return.

But if you have not claimed refund while filing the return, you can still file an application for claiming tax refund using Form 30.

Tax refund could be due to following reasons:-

·        Not submitted proof of tax-saving investments to employer: Most companies require employees to declare at the beginning of the financial year their proposed investments for tax exemptions/deductions. House rent and leave travel allowances are the common exemptions that can be claimed. Most companies ask employees to submit the proof by before March so that they can account for it in the Form 16.

Some employees fail to make the declaration, while some may give the details but fail to provide the relevant documentary proof within the time frame prescribed by the employer. In either case, employees can claim tax exemptions/deductions only while filing tax returns.

·        Interest paid on home loan not accounted for: The deduction on interest on the housing loan, based on the provisional certificate obtained from the housing finance company/bank during the financial year, is reflected in Form 16. The repayment of interest is eligible for tax-exemption under Section 24.

It may happen that it does not get accounted in Form 16. If this is the case, you can claim refund for the interest repayment of your home loan while filing the return.

·        Non submission of 15G/15H forms: In the case of individuals/senior citizens, banks deduct income-tax at source if they fail to furnish declaration in Form 15G/15H for non-deduction of tax on their interest income. Further, if PAN is not provided, the deduction rate goes up to 20% from 10%.

·        Capital gains tax paid in advance: Some individuals pay advance tax on the capital gains they expect during the year. This can be adjusted against any capital loss they may incur later in the year. The amount of capital gain could also be lower due to indexation, deductions u/s 54/54EC/54F, incorrect cost calculation etc.

ELIGIBILITY FOR REFUND

Taxpayers should first calculate their final tax liability in accordance with the tax slabs applicable to them. If the total tax liability is less than the taxes paid or deducted during the year, they would be eligible for a tax refund.

CALCULATING REFUND

For calculating refund, you have to calculate taxes on income after applying the applicable income tax rates. Once you arrive at the total tax payable, deduct all the tax deducted at source and advance taxes and self assessment tax paid (if any). The balance (if negative) is the refund amount.

CLAIMING OF REFUNDS

E-filing results in quicker refunds. Taxpayers should mention the correct bank account number if they want the refund cheque to be deposited in their account. If a taxpayer wants the refund directly credited to the bank account, then he/she should provide the MICR of the bank's branch as well. If you opt to receive the refund by way of cheque, ensure that you mention your permanent address in the tax return form. Else, in case you change the address before receiving the refund, the refund cheque would be returned undelivered to the I-T department. If the cheque is invalid/expired by the time it reaches you, intimate the jurisdictional office and send the cheque back to the refund banker for re-issue.

PROCESSING TIME FOR REFUND

In cases of e-filing, the refund is received within two to seven months. For offline returns, it often takes anywhere between one and two years. In case you haven't received your tax refund, file an application with the grievance cell.

This Article has been Shared by Student of ICAI Palak Aggarwal. She can be reached at aggarwal.palak2809@gmail.com

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Failure to deposit TDS on time will attract penalty

NEW DELHI: Failure to deposit timely and correct TDS or TCS will now attract a penalty ranging from Rs 200 to Rs one lakh by the Income Tax department.

All the Tax Deducted at Source (TDS) range offices of the department across the country have been asked by the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) to ensure compliance in this area and also inform and make aware the authorised deductors about this new action being initiated by the taxman.

According to the new instructions issued, a deductor, either government or private, will have to submit a "compulsory" fine of Rs 200 for delay in filing either TDS or Tax Collected at Source (TCS) every day beyond the stipulated date of remittance of these category of taxes.

Similarly, the penalty would be between Rs 10,000 to Rs one lakh for furnishing incorrect information or failure to file the collection statement within the due date.

"The assessing officer of the department will use sections 234E and 271H of the I-T Act to ensure that TDS or TCS collections are not delayed or faltered. The department, in many cases, has found that deductors delay for long the filing of these category of taxes even after deducting it from the salary of their employees," a senior official said.

The TDS regime has to be strengthend and hence such measures are important, the official said.

A big chunk of 41 per cent, in the total tax collections in the last fiscal, came from the TDS category alone.

During financial year 2012-13, Rs 2,30,188 crore tax was collected under the TDS category while the total direct taxes collections stood at 5,58,970 crore.

The department, during its recent deliberations with top I-T and CBDT officials here, has also decided to strengthen its regime for obtaining TDS from salaries of employees in order to collect more revenue under this category.

Source: Economic Times

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REFUND CHEQUE ISSUED BY CPC BANKER , BUT NOT YET RECEIVED

" IF SEC. 143(1) INTIMATION ORDER GENERATED AFTER THAT, REFUND CHEQUE ISSUED, ALREADY 30-45 DAYS EXPIRED BUT CHEQUE NOT YET RECEIVED TILL NOW ,, 

THEN IN THAT CASE,, WITHOUT WASTING ANY TIME ,, IMMEDIATE SEND AN E-MAIL TO THE FOLLOWING ADDRESS FOR FURTHER ISSUE OF REFUND THROUGH ECS & ....

1) itro@sbi.co.in
2) refunds@incometaxindia.gov.in

Friends, Recently, I got A REFUND AMOUNT OF RS .57000/= ( with interest ) within 72 hrs from SBI CPC Banker Mumbai ( through ECS ) from the date of above application .

FORMAT GIVEN :-
To,
The
Chief Manager (ITRO)
State Bank of India
CMP Centre, Mumbai

" SUB : REFUND CHEQUE ISSUED BY CPC BANKER , BUT NOT YET RECEIVED "


Download  TDSMAN ETDS Return Software at 10% Discount for FY 2013-14 (MRP: 3000/- DIS: 300/- NET: 2700/-) Free Trial Also Available

Thanks.
PALASH RAKSHIT.

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FVU 3.8 & 2.134 release brings major changes in tds returns filing

The Income Tax Department has released the following File Validiation Utilities(FVUs) for the purpose of TDS Returns which has become applicable from 1^st July 2013:

·  FVU Ver. 3.8 – Applicable from FY: 2010-11 onwards

·  FVU Ver 2.134 – Applicable from FY: 2007-08 till FY: 2009-10

Significant changes have been announced in FVU Ver. 3.8 that would be applicable for financial year 2013-14. Some of these changes include:

§  Section Code has been removed from Challan and shifted to Deductee / Collectee Details – this implies that one can now deposit TDS against different sections through one Challan instead of separate Challans for each Section.

§  Minor Head Code to be provided in Challan details – This code will differentiate between the payment against self-assessed TDS / TCS and demand raised by Income Tax authorities.

§  Introduction of Late Fee in Challans – As per the recently introduced Section 234E there is now a provision for Late Fee for delay in filing of TDS / TCS returns. Now the Challan will include the additional column for this Late Fee.

§  In Form 24Q (Salary Returns), a new Section 92C has been added which is for payment made to Union Government employees.

§  In Form 26Q (Non-Salary Returns), the existing Section 194I (Rent Payment) has been split into two sections 194I(a) and 194I(b) – Rent on Plant & Machinery and Rent on Land & Building as the rate of TDS is different for these two type of rent payments.

§  In the annual salary details (Applicable in Form 24Q – Q4), now there is a provision for breakup of salary paid and tax deducted by the current employer and previous employers during the current financial year.

§  In Form 27Q (Non-Salary Foreign Remittances), new columns has been added in the Deductee details.

Click here to view the Key Features of FVU 3.8

Click here to view the Key Features of FVU 2.134

Click here to download  FVU 3.8

Click here to download  FVU 2.134

Many deductors are still facing problems owing to this new FVU version 3.8 as most of the software has still not been updated in compliance with the announced changes.

It is indeed remarkable that TDSMAN software has been one of the first to be fully compliant with the newly released File Validation Utility FVU 3.8. They have released their updated software on 3rd July 2013 and it takes care of all these changes enabling the TDS returns to get validated with these new FVUs.

Therefore, it is recommended to use TDSMAN software for smooth filing of TDS returns. The software  is very nicely integrated with the TRACES and NSDL website. The online PAN verification system in TDSMAN is really very useful.

Some of the important features of TDSMAN Software are:

• · Supports unlimited deductors / companies, deductees, employees.
•   Preparation of eTDS  & eTCS returns for Forms 24Q, 26Q, 27Q, 27EQ.
•   Auto-generation of Form 16, 16A, 27A, 27B, 27D.
•   Printing of TDS, TCS certificates - 16, 16A, 27D.
•   Interface for online PAN verification.
•   Fully Integrated with TRACES (download of TDS file, Form 16A, Form 16 – Part A, Defaults report, Viewing of TDS/TCS credit etc…).
•   Automatic population of data for TRACES requests.
•   Updated with latest structure introduced for FVU 3.8 onwards.
•   Covers FY:2013-14 and earlier years upto 2005-06.

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INSTRUCTION NO. 5/2013 [F.NO.275/03/2013-IT(B)] DATED 8-7-2013

CBDT following HC’s mandamus instructs AO to give credit for TDS mismatch if deductor has deposited amount.

SECTION 139, READ WITH SECTION 199 OF THE INCOME-TAX ACT, 1961 - RETURN OF INCOME - CREDIT OF TDS U/S 199 TO AN ASSESSEE WHEN THE TAX DEDUCTED HAS BEEN DEPOSITED WITH REVENUE BY DEDUCTOR - DIRECTION OF HON'BLE DELHI HC IN THE CASE 'COURT ON ITS OWN MOTION VS. UNION OF INDIA &ORS. IN WP(C) 2659/2012 & WP(C) 5443/2012'

INSTRUCTION NO. 5/2013 [F.NO.275/03/2013-IT(B)], DATED 8-7-2013

1. The CBDT issues instructions with respect to processing of Income-tax returns and giving credit for TDS thereon in the case of TDS mismatch. A few of the instructions on this subject issued in previous years are Instruction No. 1/2010 (25-2-2010) for returns pertaining to A.Y, 2008-09; Instruction No. 05/2010 (21-7-2010), Instruction No. 07/2010 (16-8-2010) and Instruction No. 09/2010 (9-12-2010) for returns pertaining to AY. 2009-10; Instruction No. 02/2011 (9-2-2011) for returns pertaining to A.Y. 2010-11; and Instruction No. 1/2012 (2-2-2012) and Instruction No. 04/2012 (25-5-2012) for returns pertaining to A.Y. 2011-12. The instructions gave decisions and the manner in which the TDS claims were to be given credit while clearing the backlog of returns pending processing. In the cases that did not fall under the specific TDS amount limit or refund amount computed, the residuary clause in these instructions gave the manner of processing those returns and it stated that "TDS credit shall be given after due verification ".

2. The Hon'ble Delhi High Court vide its judgment in the case 'Court On its Own Motion v. UOI and Ors. (W.P. (C) 2659/2012 & W.P. (C) 5443/2012 dated 14-3-2013) has issued seven mandamuses for necessary action by Income-tax Department, one of which is regarding the issue of non-credit of TDS to the taxpayer due to TDS mismatch despite the assessee furnishing before the Assessing Officer, TDS certificate issued by the deductor.

3. In view of the order of the Hon'ble Delhi High Court (reference: para 50 of the order); it has been decided by the Board that when an assessee approaches the Assessing Officer with requisite details and particulars in the form of TDS certificate as an evidence against any mismatched amount, the said Assessing Officer will verify whether or not the deductor has made payment of the TDS in the Government Account and if the payment has been made, credit of the same should be given to the assessee. However, the Assessing Officer is at liberty to ascertain and verify the true and correct position about the TDS with the relevant AO (TDS). The AO may also, if deemed necessary, issue a notice to the deductor to compel him to file correction statement as per the procedure laid down.

4. Thus, the manner laid down by the Hon'ble HC in the above mandamus may be one of the method of due verification as mentioned in the various instructions referred in para (1) above.

5. This may be brought to notice of all Officers working under your jurisdiction for compliance.

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