Mumbai, March 29: With the ongoing financial year set to end this week, salaried professionals across sectors must know that March 31 is the last day to file income tax returns. It is important for taxpayers to file Income Tax Returns (ITR) and even plan all the taxes in advance in order to avoid paying penalties.

Besides filing taxes, linking PAN-Aadhaar with a bank account and KYC of Demat and trading account are some of the important to-do lists to be completed for the Financial Year 2021-22 before March 31.

Check Income Tax Department's tweet:

Five tasks to be completed by March 31:-

Filing Income Tax Return:

The first and foremost task for salaried taxpayers who did not file IT returns by December 31, 2021, is to file their taxes before March 31 for the FY 2020-21 or the Assessment Year (AY) 2021-21. Taxpayers must note that they may face a penalty of Rs 1,000 or Rs 5000 depending on their income and also pay additional interest on taxes. The government said that the fine has to be paid under Section 234F of the Income Tax (I-T) Act on filing belated IT Returns.

Linking Pan-Aadhaar Card:

While filing IT Returns is important, one must not forget to link their Pan card and Aadhaar card, which is one of the most crucial tasks for taxpayers. According to the CBDT, linking Pan and Aadhaar is one of the most important tasks to be completed before March 31 in order to avoid paying any kind of penalties. If not PAN has not been linked then taxpayers may attract a fine of Rs 10.000. The government has also said that linking PAN-Aadhaar after March 31 will also attract a fine of Rs, 1000. Failing to link the Pan card would also mean that taxpayers won't be able to invest in mutual funds, stocks, or for that matter even open a bank account.

Updating KYC of bank accounts:

Due to the rising number of COVID-19 cases, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has extended the last date for bank account KYC update from December 31, 2021, to March 31, 2022. Hence, bank account holders are requested to complete their KYC update before March 31 in order to avoid their bank accounts being frozen.

Updating KYC of Demat and Trading Accounts:

According to a circular issued by SEBI in April 2021, NSDL and CDSL are required to ensure six KYC attributes mainly name, address, PAN, valid mobile number, valid e-mail ID and income range must be updated in the existing Demat and trading accounts. The last day for updating the KYC of Demat and trading account is March 31.

Paying Advance Tax and E-Verification of ITR:

According to sources, the last day to pay advance tax and verify income tax returns for the previous assessment year is March 31. Taxpayers who have to pay an amount of Rs 10,000 or more for the year are required to pay advance tax. While the fourth installment for the advance tax had to be paid by March 15, 2022, taxpayers can pay the advance tax for FY 21-22 on or before March 31.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Mar 29, 2022 01:05 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).