Taxation: Kuldip Kumar

Readers' Corner

Today, Kuldip Kumar, Executive Director - Tax & Regulatory Practice at PwC, answers your questions

I missed the July 31 deadline to file my tax returns. When can I file now?

You can file the return anytime before the end of two years from the end of the relevant financial year for which the return is due. For example, a return for the financial year 2013-14 can be filed by March 31, 2016.

However, a penalty of Rs 5,000 may be levied where tax return is not filed within a period of one year from the end of the relevant financial year. Further, any taxes that remained unpaid would attract interest until such taxes are paid.

I might be deputed abroad by my employer for four to five months. Will I still need to file returns in India?

An individual is required to file a return in India if his total income of a financial year exceeds the maximum amount not chargeable to income tax (Rs 2,50,000 for the financial year 2014-15). Accordingly, if your income during the relevant year exceeds the threshold limit, you are required to file the return. Since you are deputed abroad for four or five months, it is most likely that you will not break the Indian tax residency (in other words, you will continue to be ordinarily resident of India).

In such a case, you may also be required to include the employment or other income you earned for the period deputed outside India in your India tax return. However, you may be able to avail the credit of taxes paid abroad where such income is doubly taxed in India.

Individuals qualifying to be an ordinary resident of India are required to file the India tax return where they have any asset located outside India or are the signing authority in any account located outside India. This would be so even if they do not have any taxable income to report.

My father will turn 80 on March 15. Will he be eligible for the basic exemption of Rs 5 lakh for 2014-15 or for 2015-16?

He will be eligible for the basic exemption of Rs 5 lakh for 2014-15 itself, as he turned 80 during the financial year. I assume your father is a resident of India.

The views expressed are expert's own. Send your queries to yourmoney@bsmail.in