Documents to collect before your income tax return is prepared
A checklist of what to gather before your return is prepared — and the one statement most people skip that causes most of the notices.
CA Rahul Yadav 2 min read
Return preparation goes wrong in predictable ways, and almost all of them come down to something the taxpayer did not think to mention. Here is what to gather before filing season, and why one item on the list matters more than the rest.
The basics
Your PAN and Aadhaar, and confirmation that they are linked — an unlinked PAN causes problems well beyond the return itself. Form 16 from every employer you had during the year, not only the current one. Bank account details for any refund.
If you changed jobs during the year, both employers will have computed tax on the assumption that theirs was your only salary. The combined position is often a shortfall, and it is better to know that before filing than after.
Income that people forget
Interest on savings accounts and fixed deposits, including accounts you rarely use. Interest on a post office or recurring deposit. Dividends. Rent from a property, even where it is modest and paid in cash. Capital gains on shares, mutual funds or property — including gains on a switch between mutual fund plans, which is a redemption even though no money reached your account.
Family income attributed to you under the clubbing provisions is another common omission, particularly interest on an amount gifted to a spouse or a minor child.
Deduction proofs
Life and health insurance premium receipts. Provident fund and pension contributions. Housing loan interest and principal certificates from the lender. Tuition fee receipts. Donation receipts with the correct details on them. Education loan interest.
Collect these before deciding between the tax regimes, not after — the choice depends on what you can actually claim, and an estimate made without the proofs in front of you is usually wrong in the direction you would prefer.
The statement most people skip
Download your Annual Information Statement, and Form 26AS, from the income tax portal before filing. Between them they show what the department already knows: tax deducted on your behalf, significant interest, securities transactions, property purchases, large cash deposits.
Almost every query we see on a routine return comes from a difference between the return and these statements. Reading them first turns a notice you would have received into a five-minute check.
They are sometimes wrong — a transaction reported against the wrong PAN, or reported twice. That is correctable, but only if you notice before filing.
Gather these before the due date approaches. Returns prepared under time pressure are where the omissions happen, and a belated return also restricts your ability to carry forward certain losses.