Tax payment is not the only liability of taxpayers, one need to file their income tax returns timely too. Online return filing leads to quick filing of returns and quick processing of refunds. Financial year (FY) 2011-12 is completed and every taxpayer should collate all income tax related documents for filing  Income Tax Return of FY 2011-12 (AY 2012-13). So, here Taxmantra has come up with a gist of the documents required for filing Income tax return.

• Abstract of Bank statements – A Copy of Bank statements should be acquired as it provides details about the amount of income earned, investments made and other expenses incurred during the year. It ensures that during filing income tax return no income or expenses are being left out.

• Proof of Investments – If one is claiming deduction under the various sections like u/s 80C, 80CCF, 80D, 80G etc then it is required to maintain the proofs regarding all the Investments made and preserve.

• Form 16 (Salary Certificate issued by the employer) – This form shows the income from salary and tax deducted by the employer on the same and while filing income tax return all the details should be filled exactly same to get benefit of the TDS deducted and get correct computation of income by the IT Department.

• Form 16A – This form i.e, TDS certificate one needs to obtain from the parties who have deducted tax while making payments during the year. This includes banks/ companies with whom one has a fixed deposit, parties to whom one has given loan among others.

• Details of Tax payment –If an assessee has paid any advance tax or self assessment tax during the year then challan relating to that should be preserved as on the basis of its details only one gets the credit.

• PAN details – PAN no. is a mandatory requirement in case of filing Income tax return. Assessee is required to provide the PAN card details as required like father’s name, date of birth as per PAN data.

• Proof of Investments in property – If any investment in respect of property has been made then its details are also required. If purchased on loan, all details regarding loan along with a copy of the certificate of payments should be acquired.

• Documents on purchase and sale of investments/assets: Keep a track of all your investments in shares, debentures or any other instrument. Record the purchase date and sale date so that you can assess the profit/loss for the purpose of filing income tax return.

• Collect the TDS certificate – TDS certificate is required to be collected from banks & from other sources from which tax has been deducted from your income in order to claim the right amount of TDS (Tax Deducted at Source).

• Collect Home Loan certificate – One can reduce the tax liability by repaying the home loan interest/principal. One must ensure that you have taken the full benefit of Interest payment u/s 24(b) and principal repayment u/s 80C of the Act.

The above mentioned documents which are required for filing Income tax return are required to be preserved by the assessee as these are the essential documents and may be asked by the Assessing Officer in future to prove the genuineness and proof of all investments and incomes.