Kolkata: More than 5 crore ITRs or income tax returns have been filed so far in the 2026-27 assessment year, the Income Tax department has revealed on
a social media post. Considering more than 8.5 crore ITRs were filed last year, and that the number is steadily rising, more than 3 crore ITRs are still to be filed by July 31. For those who have kept filing the essential documents for the last two days, here is a quick look at the documents you would need to file your taxes without penalty. For if you cross the deadline of July 31, you could end up paying a penalty of Rs 5,000 or Rs 1,000 depending upon your annual income level.
Important documents
KIn a sense the most important document for millions of those who use ITR-1 to file tax returns is the Form 16, which will record the taxes your employer has apdi on your behalf. Other than that two essential documents or information one needs for filing ITR are the Permanent Account Number or PAN card and Aadhaar card. These two documents have to be linked. There are also TDS certificates from banks. Banks usually email it to their customers. In the worst case, one has to visit a bank and ask for a printout. Updated bank account statements till March 31, 2025 must be collected. These too are accessible online.
Tax saving investments
If you have migrated to the new tax system, you are hardly offered any tax incentives. That essentially removes the headache of collecting the documents for tax saving investments. However, for those who are still in the old tax system for having made heavy investments in these instruments and have big home loan EMIs, they have to collect documents to file ITR. However, all are available online nowadays.
There are numerous investments that are eligible for income tax deductions as mentioned under Section 80C, 80D, 80E, 24B and 80G. For most individuals the commonest ones are those for Section 80C investments. These are Public Provident Fund, Senior Citizen Saving Certificate, National Savings certificate, National Pension System, Equity Linked Saving Scheme, life insurance premiums, Sukanya Samriddhi investments, tuition fee for kids and so on.
EMIs on home loans, house rent documents
EMI paid on home loans are also eligible for income tax deductions are. You can claim deduction on the interest paid on your home loan under section 24(b) of the Income Tax Act. Under Section 80C of the Income Tax Act, one can claim tax deductions on the principal amount repaid as a part of the home loan.
Many people pay house rent and can be eligible for House Rent Allowance (HRA) too. Rent receipts and rent agreements are needed if you claim tax deductions on house rent.
There is also a number of areas where income originates from non-salary sources. These are commonly capital gains from mutual funds, stocks, crypto investments etc. It is prudent to collect all the require documents according to your needs. However, most of the transactions and financial records are recorded in the AIS or annual information statement. Also, ITR-1 and ITR-2 usually come pre-filled and one has to tally and confirm the figures before submission. The documents should be kept handy for the tallying part.
