Income crossed Rs 5 lac ? efiling is mandatory.

Taxpayers with annual incomes exceeding Rs 5 lakh will be required to file their returns in the electronic form, a senior finance ministry official said today.
How to efile ? Click here to visit this video

The finance ministry is also making provisions for the e-filing of wealth tax returns.

“Income tax returns for the group above Rs 5 lakh will be e-filed. This is a move towards using technology so that the interface between the assessing officer and assessee is minimised,” revenue secretary Sumit Bose said at an industry event.

The government had last year introduced the system of e-filing of returns for assessees with an annual income of Rs 10 lakh and above.

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Steps are now being taken towards the e-filing of wealth tax returns. This will require changes in Section 14 of the wealth tax act along the lines of the changes in the income tax act to facilitate electronic submission of returns.

Sections 139C and 139D of the income tax act contain provisions to facilitate the filing of return of income in an electronic form by certain classes of assessees.

“In order to facilitate electronic filing of annexure-less return of net wealth, it is proposed to insert new sections 14A and 14B in the wealth-tax act on similar lines... The amendments will take effect from June 1, 2013,” said the memorandum to the Finance Bill 2013.

Bose said the income tax department was making all efforts to widen the tax base and was in the process of identifying PAN holders who have not filed returns.

He said the tax department would be sending out a second set of “polite letters” to 35,000 assessees who come in the high tax bracket. The letters will be converted into notices should the assessees not respond.

In the Union Budget for 2013-14, finance minister P. Chidambaram has proposed a 10 per cent surcharge on all individuals with a taxable income of Rs 1 crore or more — a move expected to fetch an additional Rs 13,000 crore — sparking off a debate.

Only 42,800 of the country’s 1.2 billion population have admitted to earning a taxable income of Rs 1 crore or more, which the finance minister said was “shocking”.

The finance ministry has set a target of Rs 5,70,251 crore for collection of direct taxes this year, a growth of 15 per cent over the previous year’s collections. Gross direct tax stood at over Rs 4.55 lakh crore in April-January this year. Fearing a shortfall, the government has been sending warnings and notices to alleged tax evaders.

“We have a whole lot of information with us. There is also information on the cash transaction. Either you pay taxes or else these letters would turn into notices,” he said.

Bose said the finance ministry was making all efforts to increase the tax base as a low tax-GDP ratio was a matter of concern.

In 2011-12, the tax-GDP ratio was 5.5 per cent for direct taxes and 4.4 per cent for indirect taxes.

Bose said it had touched a peak of 11.9 per cent in 2007-08, when the entire revenue came from buoyancy in direct taxes, especially corporate tax.

He said the proposed Tax Administration Reform Commission would help to bring in uniform tax administration across the country. The commission, as proposed in budget, would review the application of tax policies and tax laws and submit periodic reports to the finance minister.
Source : The Telegraph