Documents Needed for Filing Income Tax Returns in India

The last date to file ITR for individuals for AY 2024-25 is 31st July 2024 unless extended by the government. 

To file the income tax return (ITR), one must prepare and gather various documents such as salary/income details, bank statements, and previous tax statements. The specific procedure for filing varies depending on the income type and its sources, such as salary, business income, investment income, and others. While organizing the required documents is an important part of the process, this article will provide a comprehensive discussion of the documents necessary for filing Income Tax Returns in India.

Choosing the Applicable ITR Form

Taxpayers have to choose the correct ITR form applicable to them. The income tax department has launched pre-filled ITR forms for AY 2024-25. Determining which ITR form to choose can be challenging but if you file with Cleartax, we auto-suggest the correct ITR form for you based on your income details.

For Salaried Employees

If you are a salaried employee, gather these documents to e-file your income tax returns in India. Go through this list to see the documents you’ll need to do your taxes.

• PAN
• Aadhaar card
• Form-16 Part A and B issued by your employer
• Month-wise Salary Slips

It is essential to gather information on all taxable allowances received and the amount claimed as an exemption from such allowances, e.g., house rent allowance, leave travel allowance, etc., and disclose the same in the IT return.

Did you know that Form-16 is all you need to e-file your income tax returns on Cleartax? It’s that simple really. Got your Form-16? Start income tax e-filing.

For Income from House Property

Gathering the details mentioned below is necessary in order to provide complete and truthful disclosure of your income from house property.

• Rental income details 
• Tenant details such as Name, PAN/Aadhaar
• Address of Property and Co-owner details
• Interest certificate for loan, if any, including Pre-Construction Interest
• Pre-construction interest on the home loan, if any
• Municipal Tax Receipts

For Capital Gain Income

Capital gain includes proceeds from the sale of immovable properties such as land, building, house etc, also includes shares, debentures, mutual funds, jewellery etc., irrespective of gain or loss, the transactions must be reported.

• For Sale of Immovable Property :
  • Sales and purchase deeds, improvement cost details, transfer expenses 
  • Full Address of the Property.
  • Details of the buyer, like PAN and Aadhaar.
  • Necessary supporting document if you claiming exemption u/s 54 or 54EC
• For Sale of Mutual funds or Equity shares:
  • For the Sale of Mutual funds, you can generate consolidated capital gain statements from CAMs and Kfintech.
  • For the Sale of Equity shares, you can check with your broker for a capital gain statement or Tax P&L
  • For any other types of capital assets, you must have a document showing the sale consideration and the purchase cost details as required.

For Interest Income

• Bank statement/passbook for interest on a savings account.
• Interest income statement for fixed deposits.
• TDS certificate issued by banks and others.

Cleartax automatically gives you a tax benefit as per Section 80TTA when you enter your income from savings account interest. You won’t need all the documents listed here as they vary on a case-by-case basis.

Form 26AS

Form 26AS is a summary of taxes deducted on your behalf and taxes paid by you. This is provided by the Income Tax Department. It shows details of tax deducted on your behalf by deductors, details on tax deposited by taxpayers and tax refunds received in the financial year. This form can be accessed from the I-T Department’s website. Learn how to access your Form 26AS.

Form AIS/TIS

The Annual Information Statement (AIS) is a detailed summary of a taxpayer's information, which is given in Form 26AS. In addition to the TDS/TCS details, the AIS will also show interest, dividends, stock market transactions, mutual fund transactions, etc. 

AIS shows both reported value (value reported by the reporting entities) and modified value (i.e., the value after considering taxpayer feedback) for each type of information, i.e., TDS, Statement of financial transaction (SFT), and various other information. 
On the other hand, a Taxpayer Information Summary is an aggregated category-wise summary for a taxpayer. It shows the processed value (i.e., value generated after deduplication of information based on predefined value) and derived value (i.e., value derived after considering the taxpayer’s feedback) for each information category.  The derived information in TIS is used for pre-filling IT returns. 

Section 80 Investments

Section 80C investment documents. The investments made under PPF, NSC, ULIPS, ELSS, and LIC qualify for deductions under Section 80C. Make sure you have the slips and receipts of all the investments made for tax-saving purposes. Also, these documents should be preserved for a couple of years for the safe side.

Documents Required to Claim the Following Expenses as Deductions

Keep these documents at hand to claim the expenses as deductions :

• Your contribution to the Provident Fund
• Your children’s school tuition fees
• Life insurance premium payment
• Stamp duty and registration charges
• Principal repayment on your home loan
• Equity Linked Savings Scheme/Mutual Funds investment
• The maximum amount that can be claimed under Section 80C is Rs 1.5 lakhs.

Click here to see the detailed list of all the deductions available under Section 80. To know more about how to claim deductions against your home loan, Click here.

Other Investment Documents

• Interest paid on Housing Loan: Interest on a housing loan is eligible for tax savings up to Rs 2,00,000. This is for a self-occupied house. There is no limit on interest on a housing loan for let-out or deemed let-out property.

From FY 2017-18, the total loss from house property available for set off against other income is capped at Rs 2 lakhs. Therefore, interest on housing loans is eligible for tax savings up to Rs 2,00,000 for letting out a property as well.

• Education loan interest payments.
• Stock trading statement: The stock trades that were made during the year may be taxed under Capital Gain.

Documents Required for Income Tax Returns Filing

The income tax return you file is an ‘annexure less’ return, i.e. no documents or proofs are required to be attached to the returns. The Income Tax Act specifies obtaining certificates and proofs to claim deductions, which makes it ambiguous for the taxpayers as to whom they must hand over those certificates and proofs. 

The taxpayers must preserve those certificates and receipts for future reference and need not attach or send them to anyone. If an assessing officer (AO) sends a notice asking for documents or clarification about the transactions mentioned in the returns, the taxpayer will have to submit the proofs to the AO.

Related Articles

How to file the income tax return

How to view and download Form 26AS