Income-tax compliances to-do list before March 31, 2019

1. Advance tax:

In General:

The advance tax has to be paid by every taxpayer if his estimated tax liability is Rs 10,000 or more during a financial year. The taxpayer is required to pay advance tax in four instalments during the financial year itself. Though the last date for deposit of fourth instalment of advance tax is March 15 but any advance tax paid on or before 31 March, is also treated as advance tax paid during the financial year.

Presumptive Scheme:

Taxpayers covered presumptive taxation scheme (section 44AD and 44ADA) need to pay the advance tax in one instalment only. The whole amount of the advance tax is required to be paid on or before the 15th March of the financial year. If these taxpayers have not paid the advance tax, they should pay it on or before March 31, 2019.

2. File belated return for Financial Year 2017-18:

March 31, 2019 is the last date to file belated Income-tax return (ITR) for the Financial Year 2017-18. It must be noted that the taxpayers filing belated return are required to pay late filing fees under section 234F. As per Section 234F, taxpayers are required to pay late filing fees of Rs. 10,000 if return is filed on or after January 1, 2019 but up to March 31, 2019. The fees shall be Rs. 1,000 if total income is up to Rs. 5 lakhs.

3. File revised return for Financial Year 2016-17 or 2017-18:

Section 139(5) provides that a revised return can be filed by the taxpayer if he discovers any omission or error in the original ITR. March 31, 2019 is the last date to file revised return for the Financial Year 2016-17.  The Finance Act, 2017 had restricted the time limit for filing the revised return. Thus, with effect from Assessment Year 2018-19, a taxpayer can file revised return, before the end of relevant assessment year or before the completion of assessment year, whichever is earlier. However, earlier the revised return could be filed, before the end of one year from the end of relevant assessment year or before the completion of assessment year, whichever is earlier. Therefore, for the Financial Year 2016-17 (Assessment Year 2017-18) and Financial Year 2017-18 (Assessment Year 2018-19), the due date for filing of revised return is March 31, 2019.

4. Complete your tax planning:

A taxpayer can reduce his Income-tax burden by availing of various income-tax deductions available under various sections of Chapter VIA (Section 80C to 80U). These deductions are allowed for amount invested in life insurance policies, health insurance, NPS, Provident Fund, donations, etc. It is important to note that the benefit of deduction is available only if the taxpayers pays the amount during the relevant financial year. In order words, if a taxpayer wants to claim benefit of deduction during the Financial Year 2018-19, he has to make the payment on or before March 31, 2019. Any amount paid after March 31, 2019 is not eligible for deduction for Financial Year 2018-19. However, the deduction can be claimed in next Financial Year.

5. Link your PAN with Aadhaar number:

Linking process of Aadhaar with PAN and ITR was introduced by the Finance Act, 2017 by inserting a new section 139AA in the Income-tax Act, 1961. This section requires every person who is eligible to obtain Aadhaar to quote his Aadhaar number in the return of income filed on or after July 1, 2017. If any person does not possess the Aadhaar Number but had applied for the Aadhaar then he can quote Enrolment ID of Aadhaar application Form in the ITR. This provision also requires the linking of Aadhaar with PAN of the taxpayer and in case of failure, the PAN of the taxpayer shall be deemed to be invalid. The CBDT had extended the deadline for linking the Aadhaar with PAN multiple times considering the genuine difficulties faced by the taxpayer. Now, the final deadline to link Aadhaar number with PAN is March 31, 2019. The provision of section 139AA was challenged at various occasion before the judicial authorities. The Supreme Court in case of Binoy Viswam v. Union of India [2017] 82 taxmann.com 211 (SC), upholding the validity of section 139AA, had confirmed that taxpayers, who are filing return of income on or after 01-07-2017, are required to quote Aadhaar number in their ITR. However, the Court had given a partial relief to taxpayers by providing that PAN will not be deemed to be invalid if a taxpayer does not have an Aadhaar or if he does do not wish to obtain an Aadhaar.

6. Section 194-IB – TDS on rent:

Section 194-IB of the Income-tax Act, 1961 provide that every individual or HUF paying monthly rent above Rs. 50,000 shall be liable to deduct tax at the rate of 5%. Tax shall be deducted at the time of making payment or at the time of credit of rent to the account of landlord, for the last month of the previous year or the last month of tenancy (if property is vacated during the year), whichever is earlier. Therefore, if taxpayer has not been making actual payment of rent during the entire year and he is crediting or paying the rent to the account of landlord at year end, he shall be liable to deduct TDS at the rate of 5% on the whole of the rent amount, in the month of March. The tax so deducted shall be deposited with Govt. in challan-cum-statement in Form 26QC. April 30, 2019 shall be the due date for furnishing of Form 26QC.