siliconindia | | SEPTEMBER 20259of retail F&O traders facing losses, misreported deductions spark penalties.Economic realities pinch 55 percent of Gen Z live paycheck-to-paycheck, making steady investing a high-wire act amid inflation. Cultural friction lingers parents, loyal to gold and land, dismiss stocks as gambling. Unregulated finfluencers pushing pump-and-dump schemes on X or YouTube add peril, turning dreams into tax traps.Success Stories - From Small Bets to Big WinsMeet Aryan Sharma, Founder and CEO, Edtech Venture, a 23-year-old Bengaluru coder who turned 5,000 pocket money into an 10 lakh portfolio by 2025 via Groww's SIPs in small-caps. His ITR filings claimed education loan deductions, saving 20,000 yearly, now funding his edtech venture.Or Neha Patel, Freelance Graphic Designer, 24, an Ahmedabad freelancer who weathered 2022's crypto crash. By meticulously tracking ITRs, she offset stock gains, growing her 2 lakh portfolio to 7 lakh and mentoring others on LinkedIn.Then there's Kaivalya Vohra, Co-Founder & Chief Technology Officer, Zepto, who at 19 co-founded Zepto, leveraging tax-smart equity plays to build a billion-dollar unicorn. These aren't anomalies 75 percent of young investors bypass advisors for apps, crafting their own success arcs, with Zerodha noting a 43 percent spike in Gen Z registrations.Ready to Join the Revolution?Here's how to open totally in 2025:· Register on incometax.gov.in with PAN and Aadhaar.· Choose ITR-1 (Sahaj) for simple salary/interest income under 50 lakh, or ITR-2/ITR-3 for investments.· Steps: Log in, select `File Income Tax Return' for Assessment Year 2025-26. Opt for online mode pre-filled data (salary, TDS) pulls from Form 26AS/AIS.· Verify details, add deductions (e.g 80C for mutual funds), compute tax, pay via net banking, and e-verify with Aadhaar OTP.· For trading, open a demat account on Zerodha/Groww, link PAN, bank, and start with 500 SIPs. Apps like ClearTax streamline filing, dodging portal glitches. It's not about perfection, it's about starting, like posting your first Instagram story.Wrapping It Up!Gen Z's market zeal isn't a fleeting X trend it's a seismic shift. They're not just filing ITRs, they're authoring India's economic future, one trade at a time. As stereotypes of carefree youth dissolve, these digital natives prove that awareness, paired with action, is the ultimate wealth hack. In the vibrant bazaar of New India, where dreams meet deadlines, Gen Z is turning market highs into a grounded reality, building not just portfolios but a legacy of financial empowerment.
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