Income Tax Return Filing

Taxes in India are basically categorized into two types i.e. direct tax and indirect tax. The tax
which is paid to the government directly on income is said to be the direct tax. The tax which is
collected by somebody else on behalf of somebody else is known as indirect tax.
Eg- The taxes recovered from you by the theaters, restaurants, and e-commerce websites on
the purchase of goods or on a service availed by you. This tax is, passed down to the
government in turn. Direct Taxes are classified broadly as:

1. Income Tax – This is taxes paid on the income received by an individual or by any
taxpayer other than companies or by Hindu Undivided Family. There are laws in India
which prescribe the rate at which such income should be taxed.

2. Corporate Tax – This is the tax which is paied by the companies on the profits they make
from their businesses. Also in such taxes a specific rate of tax has been prescribed which
is to be paid by the corporate by the income tax laws of India.

Everyone who earns or gets an income in India is subject to pay income tax. Not only resident
but also the non-resident of India is subject to income tax. The tax that the government
imposes on the income generated by the businesses and also by the individuals within their
jurisdiction is known as income tax. Each and every person is subject to income tax that earns
or gets an income in India even that person is a resident of India or even a non- resident. The
income tax imposed on individuals or tax- payers varies with their respective income or profits.
A person’s income could be anything, it would include the salary of the person, pension that he
or she would receive or could be from a savings account that’s accumulating a 4% interest.

By law, each and every taxpayer must file an income tax return annually to determine their tax
obligations. The filing of the Income Tax Return is the process of declaring the total income of
an individual or the firm to the Income Tax Department of India, at the end of each financial
year. Income taxes are a source of revenue for the government. They are used to pay the
government obligations, fund public services, and also to provide goods for the citizens .

In most of the places, the income tax return must be filed annually. An income tax return is
a report of documents like income, expenses and other relevant financial information that is
filed with a taxing authority. On the tax returns, the taxpayers calculate their schedule tax
payment, tax liability, or request refunds for the over-payment of the taxes.

The Income Tax Act of 1961, and also the Income Tax Rules of 1962, obligates the citizens to file
the returns with the Income Tax Department at the end of every financial year. These returns
must be filed before the due dates specified.
Direct and Indirect Taxes

Direct and indirect taxes include all different types of taxes which are levied by the government on
the tax- payers. All the taxes that cannot be transferred or shifted to another person are included in
the direct taxes. For instance the income tax paid by the individual directly to the government. In this
case, the burden of the tax falls flatly on the individual who earns a taxable income and cannot shift
the tax to others whereas Indirect taxes are the taxes which can be shifted to another person. 

An example would be the VAT (Value Added Tax) that is included in the bill of goods and services
that you procure from others. The initial tax is levied on the service provider or the manufacturer, and
then shifts this tax burden to the consumers by charging higher prices for the commodity by
including taxes in the final price.

The direct taxes are progressive in nature whereas the indirect taxes are regressive in nature. Also,
if we talk about tax envasion