If you are an employee of a company, at the beginning of every financial year (or) while joining the company you have to submit ‘Income Tax Declaration’ to your employer. This is a provisional statement that has details about your proposed investments and expenses that are Income Tax deductible.

At the financial year end, you need to provide supporting Investment Proofs for these investments that you have specified in IT declaration.

Based on your proposed investments and expenses, your employer deducts TDS (Tax Deduction at Source, if any) from your monthly salary and deposits it to the government account. To calculate TDS, your employer considers the declared investments and expenses that are either Tax Exempted (or) eligible for tax deductions under Income Tax Act.

Till date there has been no standard reporting format or template available for furnishing the details of investment or expenditure proofs.

As of now, to claim tax benefits or rebate, an employee has to just mention the sum claimed under exempt allowances. But with effective from 1st June, 2016 to claim income tax deductions you need to submit new Form 12BB to your employer. It is also been made mandatory to submit documentary evidence of your investments / expenditures.

The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has vide notification No.30/2016 released a New Form No. 12BB.

This is going to be the new standard form for salaried taxpayers to claim tax deduction on:

• LTA (Leave Travel Allowance) / LTC (Leave Travel Concession)
• HRA (House Rent Allowance)
• Interest payable on Home Loan (Section 24) and
• All Tax Deductions under Chapter VI-A which relates to allowable deductions under various sections including Section 80C, Section 80CCC Section 80CCD, Section 80D etc.

 

House Rent Allowance:  House Rent Allowance is exempt under section 10 (13A) of the Income Tax Act. To claim HRA, you have to provide documentary evidence i.e., Rent receipts. You also have to provide details of landlord (name & address) and the amount paid as rent. Permanent Account Number (PAN) of the landlord shall be furnished if the aggregate rent paid during the year exceeds one lakh rupees.

Leave Travel Allowance: With effective from 1st June, 2016, the CBDT has made it mandatory for all the salaried employees to submit travel related expenditure proofs to their employers.

Interest Payments on Home Loans: To claim income tax deduction under section 24 on home loan interest payments, you have to furnish details of interest amount payable/paid, lender’s name & address & PAN number of the lender in Form 12BB. 

Income Tax Deductions under Chapter VI -A: You have to provide the details & evidences of your investments or expenditures related to various sections like 80C, 80CCC, 80CCD, 80D (medical insurance premium), 80E (deduction of interest on education loan), 80G (donations), Section 80EE etc., in Form 12BB.

The CBDT has advised the employers to assess the evidence submitted by their employees and then accordingly decide the extent of tax that should be deducted at source from their salaries.

I believe that the tax authorities are aiming to bring in consistency in respect of the income tax benefits being claimed and also to ensure that necessary documentary evidence, as prescribed, is maintained while making the claims.

Download the specimen format of : Form 12BB

Source: http://www.relakhs.com/form-12bb-income-tax-deductions-lta-hra/

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