August 31 is the last day for filing income tax returns for Assessment Year 2018-19. As per the new tax law, there’s a penalty of Rs 5,000 if the return is filed after the deadline but before December 31st 2018. After December 31st 2018 the penalty is Rs 10,000.

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Here’s how you can file your returns without missing the deadline:

How to file:

An individual needs to know the tax slab his income fits in and also keep relevant documents such as PAN card, Form 16, Form 26AS and bank account details handy.

Form 16 is the certificate issued by your employer which gives details of the salary paid to you and TDS (tax deducted at source) deducted on this salary and deposited on your behalf with the tax authorities.

You can assess Form 26AS, which is an annual consolidated tax statement from the Income Tax Website by using PAN (Permanent Account Number). Form 26AS contains details of various taxes deducted from your income by deductors. The deductors could be your employer who deducts TDS and pays it on your behalf to the Government or a bank which deducts TDS on fixed deposit interest income. The TDS deducted in Form 16 should match with the details in Form 26AS.

Also Read: Seven necessary steps to follow while filing your Income Tax Return

Documents related to tax saving investments and expenses such as EPF, NPS, ELSS, PPF, NSC, SCSS and other tax saving investments, premium receipts on life and health insurance plans, documents showing principal and interest paid on the home loan, rent receipts and medical bills on self or dependents and donation receipts should provide accurate information and help save tax.

In case you have invested in mutual funds, stocks, equity-oriented funds or debt-funds, calculate your short-term and long-term gains. Make sure you do the calculations right, else you may end up paying higher taxes.

Income Tax Return Forms:

Many people get puzzled while choosing the ITR forms appropriate for disclosing their income earned.

The Central Board of Direct Taxes had notified the new ITR forms for AY 2018-19 well in time through a notification dated April 3 so as to help the taxpayers to commence their return filing process without any haste.

An individual can choose from the seven ITR forms that are available according to their income earned, property owned and citizenship.

Also Read: Income Tax Returns FY 2017-18: The forms to choose from and their relevance

Filing the ITR:

Log on to the IncomeTaxIndiaeFiling.gov.in and register yourself on the website.

Click on the appropriate form and download it.

Open Excel Utility and fill up the Form by entering details using Form 16.

Check the tax payable by clicking ‘calculate tax’ tab.

Upon validating, generate and save the XML file and upload the same on ‘upload return’ on the portal’s panel.

Don’t forget to verify ITR after E-Filing through ITR-V. ITR-V is the Income Tax Return – ‘Verification’ Form. This can be done through Aadhaar Card, Net Banking, or the Electronic Verification Code process on your mobile number and email.