Earning over Rs 10 lakh? E-filing of returns must

People with annual income of over Rs 10 lakh (Rs 1 million) will have to file their tax returns for 2011-12 electronically.

The Central Board of Direct Taxes has issued a notification making e-filing compulsory for assessment year 2012-13 onwards for an individual or a Hindu Undivided Family if his or its total income exceeds Rs 10 lakh.

However, digital signature will not be mandatory for these taxpayers, the Finance Ministry said in a statement.

E-filing for such assessees was optional till 2010-11.

The Income Tax Department had received a record 1.64 crore (16.4 million) e-returns in 2011-12 financial year.

Currently, 'Business Houses' with receipts of Rs 60 lakh (Rs 6 million) and professionals with income of Rs 15 lakh (Rs 1.5 million) are mandatorily required to e-file their return with digital signature.

As on March 31, 2012, there were 19,684,592 tax payers who had registered for e-filing.

The ministry said, 'e-filing is an easy, fast and secure method of filing income tax return' and 'the processing for e-filed return is faster and taxpayers get their refunds, if due, quickly'.

The electronically filed returns are processed at Centralised Processing Centre, Bengaluru [ Images ].

The Income Tax department also provides some value added services like tracking of refunds and viewing of tax credit status.