E-filing of tax returns made mandatory for corporates

Bangalore: The Finance Ministry on Monday made it mandatory for all companies to file income tax returns electronically with digital signatures, a move that will facilitate faster filing of I-T returns by India. The ministry indicated that the online filing of income tax returns could touch one crore-mark in the current financial year from 55 lakh in the last fiscal year.

All business entities and Hindu undivided families (HUFs) with a business income of over 40 lakh per annum will also be required to mandatorily file income tax returns in the electronic format, but the digital signatures will not be mandatory. Under the Income Tax Act, the individuals and HUFs are required to get their accounts audited if the turnover or gross receipts from business exceeds 40 lakh ( 60 lakh from assessment year 2011-12) or receipts from the profession exceeds 10 lakh ( 15 lakh from assessment year 2011-12).

Although, e-filing of income tax returns has been getting momentum lately, a large number of Indian masses are unaware of its benefits. The best advantages of filing your income tax returns online is that you can file your returns anytime, anywhere, away from the prying eyes of others and within the confines of your own home.

At the same time you need to ensure you protect your personal information online as the identity theft rate related to tax return filing rises in keeping with the increasing popularity of online tax filing. The web links you get on your emain can be dangerous as the fraud links can steal your sensitive personal information, from PAN numbers to credit card account information. If you need to log in, do so independently and through the log-in Web page, not by clicking on a link. It should be kept in mind that the Income Tax Department will never request personal information via fax.

There are many web sites which do provide this service today. eLagaan.com is one of such sties which offers free tax preparation to people up to 3 lakhs of income. People can then review their tax calculations instantly and proceed with filing their returns online without need to visit the income tax office. eLagaan covers the a good set of deductions allowed by income tax department so that tax payers who have invested in any approved schemes for tax savings can get the benefit of the same and prepare accurate returns. As part of their corporate social responsibility, eLagaan has announced free tax preparation to all senior citizens and physically challenged users, irrespective of the package they select.

The government had introduced the system for mandatory e-filing of income tax returns by corporates from assessment year 2006-07. The due date for submitting income tax returns for assessment year 2010-11 is July 31, 2010.