Business Standard
What is Income tax

Income tax

About Income tax

What is Income tax

Income tax is a direct tax that a government levies on the income of its citizens. The Income Tax Act, 1961, mandates that the central government collect this tax. The government can change the income slabs and tax rates every year in its Union Budget. 
 
Income does not only mean money earned in the form of salary. It also includes income from house property, profits from business, gains from profession (such as bonus), capital gains income, and 'income from other sources'. The government also often provides certain leeway such that various deductions are made from an individual's income before the tax to be levied is calculated. 
 
Income Tax Returns
 
Income Tax Returns (ITR) form are the basis of calculating a person's income tax. It is a statement showing the status of a person, all their sources of revenue, deductions and, lastly, the tax payable or tax refund, if any. 
 
Income Tax slabs
 
What income tax rate a person pays depends on the slab they fall in. The government has categorised incomes into slabs like — up to Rs 250,000, Rs 250,000-Rs 5,00,000, Rs 5,00,000-Rs 1 million, and more than Rs 1 million. The rates on different slabs might be different based on age groups.
 
Standard deduction
 
Tax on some components of income can be waived by the government. These tax reliefs are known as standard deductions.

Latest Updates on Income tax

Expect income tax harassment to increase over the next few months

Govt's free food package, brought into effect since Covid outbreak in 2020, and RBI's lesser-than-expected dividend for FY22 might make the govt push the taxman to further augment revenues

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Updated On : 23 May 2022 | 4:32 PM IST

Limit Section 54 benefit to curb money laundering

Section 54 tax exemption should not be available if the taxpayer already owns two or more properties on the date of sale of property

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Updated On : 15 May 2022 | 11:37 PM IST

Top Headlines: Wheat export push, CBDT's ITR guidelines, and more

Here are the top Business Standard headlines on Friday

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Updated On : 13 May 2022 | 7:24 AM IST

CBDT to taxmen: Complete 30% faceless assessments by end-June

Faceless assessment units identify issues, seek information, and analyse material to conduct assessment

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Updated On : 04 May 2022 | 1:33 AM IST

Volume IconHow are Indian crypto industry & investors coping with the new tax regime?

The new financial year brought with it a slew of changes in the tax regime. Income arising from the transfer of virtual digital asset will invite a 30% tax. How will it impact Indian crypto industry?

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Updated On : 04 Apr 2022 | 8:15 AM IST

Income in US on I-T radar in FY23, non-disclosure to invite action

The CBDT has rolled out an aggressive target and timeline to investigate tax evasion matters, especially those involving undisclosed foreign assets

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Updated On : 04 Apr 2022 | 6:10 AM IST

Volume IconWhat is going to change for income tax payers from today?

A set of changes related to income tax are coming into effect from the first day of the new financial year. One of the highlights is the 30% tax on cryptocurrency gains. What are the other changes?

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Updated On : 01 Apr 2022 | 8:15 AM IST

Volume IconTMS Ep141: Income tax changes, PLI challenges, markets, Bear Trap

What is going to change for income tax payers from today? What are the challenges facing PLI scheme? Will rising interest rates and muted earnings dampen FY23? What is a Bear Trap? All answers here

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Updated On : 01 Apr 2022 | 8:00 AM IST

Young Indian case: Apex IT Tribunal upholds case against Gandhis

The Income Tax Tribunal on Thursday upheld the case against the Gandhi family in connection with commercial immovable properties worth more than Rs 800 crore

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Updated On : 31 Mar 2022 | 11:38 PM IST

30% tax on cryptocurrency income to come into effect from Friday

The revised norms for levy of 1 per cent TDS (tax deducted at source) on sale of immovable property exceeding Rs 50 lakh will come into effect from April 1, the beginning of the new financial year

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Updated On : 31 Mar 2022 | 8:40 PM IST

Wealth-income mismatch: The curious case of India's missing millionaires

While India had 764,000 dollar-millionaires in 2019 by one account, just 316,000 filed tax returns declaring income of over $75,000. Large-scale I-T evasion may still be taking place, notes T N Ninan

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Updated On : 25 Mar 2022 | 11:13 PM IST

Pay penalty for failing to keep books of accounts, say analysts

Experts say it has now become a standard practice to pay a fine instead of maintaining books of accounts and other documents.

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Updated On : 25 Mar 2022 | 6:03 AM IST

I-T searches at Hero MotoCorp CMD Pawan Munjal's premises for 'tax evasion'

About 25 locations in Delhi, Gurugram and other parts of northern India.

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Updated On : 23 Mar 2022 | 10:28 PM IST

Not filed ITR yet? Face penalty or even jail term, say analysts

Breaching March 31 cut-off date will have assessee receive show-cause notice for undisclosed income

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Updated On : 23 Mar 2022 | 6:03 AM IST

How to respond to a notice for reassessment of income u/s 148A of I-T Act

Check the Relied Upon Documents, or RUDs, on the basis of which the assessing officer has started the reassessment proceedings

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Updated On : 20 Mar 2022 | 8:59 PM IST

CBDT claims Huawei manipulated account books to reduce taxable income

The CBDT statement made multiple charges against the company including that it 'made inflated payments against receipt of technical services from its related parties outside India'

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Updated On : 03 Mar 2022 | 11:26 PM IST

Income tax refunds of over Rs 1.83 trn issued so far this fiscal: I-T Dept

"CBDT issues refunds of over Rs 1,83,579 crore to more than 2.09 crore taxpayers from 1st Apr, 2021 to 28th Feb, 2022," the I-T department tweeted

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Updated On : 02 Mar 2022 | 5:59 PM IST

I-T refunds worth Rs 1.83 trn issued to 20.7 mn taxpayers so far in FY22

This includes personal income tax refunds of Rs 65,498 crore to over 2.04 crore assessees and corporate tax refunds of Rs 1.17 lakh crore to 2.30 lakh entities

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Updated On : 24 Feb 2022 | 6:16 PM IST

Of 62.6 mn income tax returns filed for FY21, 45 mn processed, says CBDT

More than 5.41 crore income tax returns (ITRs) filed have been verified and 1.58 crore refunds amounting to Rs 31,857 crore for AY 2021-22 (2020-21 fiscal) have been issued

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Updated On : 17 Feb 2022 | 12:16 AM IST

I-T searches on China's Huawei over tax evasion, firm says co-operating

The Income Tax department on Wednesday carried out raids at multiple premises linked to Chinese tech conglomerate Huawei across the country in connection with alleged tax evasion.

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Updated On : 16 Feb 2022 | 5:19 PM IST