Senior citizens in India are not automatically exempt from the obligation to file their income tax returns. An income tax return (ITR) is required if you are a senior citizen who resides in India and has taxable income that exceeds a certain threshold.
An ITR is basically a form that people, organizations, and associations use to report their pay, derivations, and charges paid for a particular monetary year. Because it enables the government to keep track of taxpayers’ income and ensure that they pay the correct amount of tax, it is an essential compliance requirement for both individuals and businesses in India.
An individual resident who is 60 years of age or older but less than 80 years of age at any time during the previous year is considered a senior citizen for the purposes of income taxation. On the other hand, a super senior citizen is someone who was 80 or older at any point in the previous year.
Contrary to popular belief, senior citizens and very senior citizens are not exempt from having to file an income tax return under the Income Tax Act of 1961. Section 194P of the Finance Act of 2021, on the other hand, requires a banking company to deduct tax if the deductee (the recipient of the pension income) is maintaining an account with it and meets certain conditions, providing some relief to senior citizens over the age of 75 and easing their compliance burden.
The bank, as the deductor, will take into account the deduction allowed by Chapter VI-A and the rebate provided by Section 87A when determining the deductee’s income if the aforementioned conditions are met. Senior citizens are not required to file an income tax return for the year in which tax was deducted if their salary is subject to taxation.
Senior citizens and super seniors have a higher exemption limit than regular taxpayers. The exemption limit is the income limit below which a person is not required to pay tax. A senior citizen is eligible for a maximum exemption of Rs. 3,00,000 for the financial year 2022-2023 rather than Rs. 2,50,000 for people who aren’t seniors.
For super senior citizens, the exemption threshold is Rs. 5,000 for the same year’s budget. If the earnings are below Rs. Rs. 5 lakhs, a rebate of up to Rs. The new tax system makes it possible to pay 12,500 dollars.
If you are very old and use Form ITR 1/4, you can file your income tax return on paper. However, you can choose to electronically file it if you so desire.
Each person whose expected expense obligation for the year is Rs. at least 10,000 is expected to pay their duty ahead of time as “advance tax,” per section 208. However, residents over the age of 60 who did not earn any income from a business or profession during the relevant financial year are exempt from paying advance tax under Section 207.
