Hurry Up! 5 key tasks that need to be completed by March 31 – Have you missed any?

The end of the financial year (FY) 2020-21 is only a few days away. By now, you would have taken care of all your tax saving investments and expenses in the specified instruments. However, there are a few other investment and tax related issues you need to complete before March 31, 2021. Here are some of those that you might have missed during the year.

Belated ITR filing

If you were waiting for filing the income tax return (ITR) for the FY 2019-20 or Assessment year 2020-21, at the last minute, now is the time to do so. You are allowed to file a Belated Return by March 31, 2021 but with a penalty of Rs.10000.

Form 12B

If you have changed jobs during the FY 2020-21, you should ensure that you have submitted Form 12B to your new employer. In the previous organisation, you might have submitted investment declaration for the purpose of tax saving, based on which the employer would have deducted the taxes accordingly.

Form 12B is a statement wherein you will have to provide your new employer with the amount of income and taxes deducted by your previous employer. Based on the information furnished in the form, the employer will issue the Form 16 to the employee. Failing to do will increase the tax liability for the employee.

Minimum Investments

Certain investments such as PPF, NPS requires a minimum amount to be put into the account in each financial year in order to keep them active. Else, the account becomes inactive and one will have to regularize or unfreeze it before making fresh investments. The process of reactivating may be time-consuming and may also involve a penalty. In order to avoid this, make sure you have invested the minimum amount before the financial year ends. One should, however, make adequate investments in one’s investments so as to reap its benefits over the long term linked to one’s goal.

Form 15G / Form 15H

In case you have bank fixed deposits, the income is subject to TDS if the interest earned is more than Rs 40,000 ( Rs 50,000 for senior citizens) in a financial year. However, by submitting Form 15G / Form 15H to the banker, there will not be any such TDS deducted from the income. However, make sure you submit the forms to your banker by March 31 of the year. Form 15H is for individual who is of the age of sixty years or more while Form 15G is for all others for whom the total income will not exceed the maximum amount which is not chargeable to income-tax. If you had already submitted at the start of the FY, be ready to repeat the exercise in the first month of next FY as well.

Investment proofs

If you have already taken care of all tax savings, submit the documentary proofs to your employer. Most employers ask for such evidence in January or February and in case they are not accepting anymore, use them to claim a refund while filing ITR in the next FY. With a few days left for the FY, make sure to cross-check the draft tax worksheet if the employer has shared it with you.