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Made mistake while filing I-T returns?

July 21, 2015 10:38 IST

Taxpayers are allowed to make the changes under certain circumstances

Sample this: You file your income tax returns on time, pay the dues and get the receipt. After a few days, you realise that you have made is mistake while filing your returns. Either you didn’t include returns on some investments or not declared certain income.

Don’t worry, there’s a provision in the Income Tax Act that allows you to correct mistakes or add things that you had omitted in the original filing. To start, the person needs to have the 15-digit acknowledgement number of the original return and the date.

However, it can be done only under certain conditions. The I-T department allows the taxpayer to revise the original return only if the filing was done within the due date. If not, the person is not eligible.

The I-T department allows the taxpayer to file revised returns if he or she misses any deduction or income. If there’s a loss, the changes can be made and can be carried forward.

The revision is possible only for omissions and wrong statements. If there was nay concealment of false statement, the taxpayer is not allowed amendments. If the authority finds out that there was concealment of income from original then the person will need to pay the penalty. Penalty for such act is 100 per cent to 300 per cent of the tax due.

The revised return can only be filed before the particular assessment year ends. For example, for the financial year 2014 – 15, the assessment year is 2015-16. A person has to revise the returns up to March 31, 2016. This also means that the changes can be done before the I-T department does assessment of the return. This is typically done after the end of the assessment year.

And you can revise the returns as many times as you like if it is within the stipulated time frame. But do remember that if you make changes, your case will be scrutinise more closely.

To make the changes, you can either go online or also go for physical revision. However, if the original was done online, then the person mandatory needs to opt for the online revision. Open the schedules where you wish to make amendments. After making changes, fill the acknowledgement number and date of original return. Download the revised and sign it. Send the original and revised ITR sheets to Bangalore.

Tinesh Bhasin in Mumbai
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