CONDITIONAL EXEMPTION FROM RETURN FILING

[Dr. Sanjiv Agarwal]

Here is a good news for individual assessees whose total income does not exceed Rs. five lakh. Such persons (only individuals) have been exempted from the requirement of furnishing income tax return for the financial year 2011-12 (i.e., assessment year 2012-13), albeit with some conditions -

 

Conditions for Exemption from Return  Only individuals  covered Salary income only May have bank interest income upto Rs. 10,000 only Permanent account number must TDS deducted by employer Served only one employer TDS certificate to mention PAN No refund due to assessee

According to a CBDT Notification, only a specified class of persons has been exempt form the requirement of furnishing a return of income for the assessment year 2012-13 subject to certain conditions. Class of persons implies an individual whose total income for the assessment year 2012-13 (in financial year 2011-12) does not exceed Rs. 5 lakh (i.e. it is Rs. 5 lakh or below Rs. 5 lakh) for the whole of 2011-12 and consist of only incomes chargeable to income tax under the income heads of ‘salaries’ and / or ‘income forms other sources’ earned by way of interest from a saving bank account in a bank not exceeding Rs. ten thousand. It may be noted that interest should be only in saving bank account and not from any other account such as recurring deposit account or term deposit etc. If interest from savings account is from more than one account, the aggregate interest should not exceed Rs. ten thousand. Firms and HUF’s are not eligible for this exemption as it applies to individuals only.

This exemption comes with certain conditions and is available only on fulfillment of all such conditions. The assessee seeking exemption should have a permanent account number (PAN), should have reported the PAN to his employer, should report his interest income to employer, employer should deduct tax at source (TDS) on salary and interest, should have received TDS certificate in Form No. 16 from his employer containing his PAN, income details, TDS and date of payment of TDS in government account, should not have any refund claim for the assessment year and should have received salary from only one employer during the whole year. If any one or more conditions are not satisfied, exemption won’t be available.

The exemption is also not available where notice has been issued under provisions of Income Tax Act to file a return.

Though the number of assessees fulfilling the criteria may not be very large, yet by doing so, government has certainly shown a gesture of trust and also sought to be cost efficient.

 

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