siliconindia | | SEPTEMBER 20258In the electric pulse of 2025 India, where Instagram reels birth millionaires and WhatsApp forwards teach candlestick charts, Gen Z is rewriting the economic script. Forget sipping overpriced chai or chasing fleeting trends, this is about young Indians, armed with smartphones and ambition, turning market enthusiasm into disciplined Income Tax Return (ITR) filings.Imagine a 22-year-old from Surat trading NIFTY options while decoding Form 26AS between Zoom calls. As India races toward a $5-trillion economy, Gen Z's audacity to treat stocks like a strategic game blending risk with responsibility fuels the charge.ITR Deadline 2025: The Clock TicksToday's the day September 15, 2025 to file your Income Tax Return (ITR) for FY 2024-25, pushed from July 31 by the CBDT. This is for non-audit folks salaried, pensioners, landlords, stock traders, or small biz owners using ITR-1 to ITR-4. Only 5.47 crore filed by September 12, way below last year's 7.28 crore. Portal crashes and refund delays have taxpayers begging for more time, but the Tax Department's holding firm. No word on extensions yet!Miss the Deadline?Here's the Deal· Blow past September 15, and you'll owe 5,000 (1,000 if income's under 5 lakh) under Section 234F. You can still file a belated return by December 31, 2025, or an updated ITR-U until March 31, 2030. Don't sleep on it penalties hurt!How to File ITR in a FlashDon't panic filing's simple:· Visit incometax.gov.in, log in with PAN and password.· Click `File Income Tax Return' for AY 2025-26.· Select your status (individual, HUF) and ITR-1 (simple income) or ITR-2 (investments).· Enter income, verify pre-filled data (salary, TDS), and add deductions.· Pay any tax, submit, and e-verify via Aadhaar OTP or net banking within 30 days.· Use apps like ClearTax to dodge portal glitches.The RiseGen Z's ITR obsession didn't spark from a government edict but from a digital awakening post-2020 lockdowns. Trapped indoors, they traded binge-scrolling for stock-watching. Platforms like Zerodha and Groww, with intuitive interfaces, obliterated entry barriers demat accounts ballooned by 37 million, with under-25s leading the pack. ITR-3 filings, tied to trading profits, surged over 600 percent among this cohort.Why? They're not stashing cash in fixed deposits; they're chasing equities (84 percent favor mutual funds), mid-caps (45 percent), and small-caps (41 percent). Finfluencers like Ankur Warikoo, dropping tax tips in snappy Instagram reels, turned complexity into clout. SEBI's youth-centric campaigns and apps like Moneycontrol amplified awareness, while tier-2 cities like Indore saw gig workers double as traders. A 91.6 percent retention rate in ITR-3 filings signals not just participation but staying power a generation building wealth with tenacity.The ChallengesThis journey isn't all bullish markets and green candlesticks. The e-Filing portal, a digital hydra, crashes under peak traffic, with OTP delays and mismatched pre-filled forms vexing newbies. Decoding AIS, TIS, or Form 26AS feels like solving a cryptic puzzle. Gen Z's eclectic income streams freelancing, crypto, F&O muddy the waters: Is a Bitcoin profit a capital gain or business income? With 90 percent EDITORIAL EXCLUSIVEINDIA'S GEN Z TURNS MARKET ZEAL INTO ITR REALITYUNVEILING THE DUAL REALITIES OF DARK WEBSITES IN THE DIGITAL AGE· Young Indians turn digital savvy into disciplined ITR filings and wealth-building.· Platforms like Zerodha, Groww, and ClearTax simplify trading and tax compliance.· Gen Z blends risk, strategy, and re-sponsibility to shape India's financial future.By M R Yuvatha, Senior Correspondent, siliconindia
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