Income tax guides for India (ITR, TDS, notices)

This hub is the shelf for every income tax question RTI Wiki answers. Tax trouble rarely arrives as one big question. It arrives as a wrong figure in AIS, a Form 16 that never came, a refund stuck for months, or a notice that quotes a section number you have never read. Each guide below takes one of those moments and walks it to a finish, with the portal screens, letters and deadlines that moment needs.

Work through it in the order of your problem. Filing first, if the return itself is unfinished or broken. Then TDS and Form 16, because what others reported about you flows into that return. Then refunds and notices, which is where most stuck files live. The later sections cover capital gains, deductions and newer income types like crypto. Two habits prevent most of these fights: file on time, and never copy a figure from AIS into your return without checking it against your own statements. The department also tracks the new Income-tax Act and what changes for you as it phases in.

Most filing pain is fixable: an invalid return can be revived, a mistake can be revised, and a missed deadline has a belated window.

• How to file your ITR online — the plain-language walkthrough.
• Which ITR form to file — ITR-1 to ITR-4 matched to your income.
• Old vs new tax regime — the choice that changes everything else.
• E-verification failed and your ITR is invalid — how to revive the return.
• Belated and revised returns — fixing the file after the deadline or after a mistake.
• Updated return ITR-U — a second chance to report missed income.
• Wrong capital gains in AIS on shares or mutual funds — reconcile, object, then file.

Tax deducted at source is your money, paid in your name, by someone else. When that someone makes a mistake, the mismatch lands on your return.

• Form 16 not issued, or TDS deducted but not deposited — the employer problem, end to end.
• TDS deducted but not showing in Form 26AS — buyer, tenant or employer side.
• TCS on a car purchase above Rs 10 lakh — collection at source on luxury buys.
• Section 194T — TDS on partner pay by firms and LLPs.
• TDS on salary — how your employer computes it.
• Applying for TAN when you must deduct TDS yourself.
• Salary proof stuck at a previous employer — when records, not tax law, are the block.

A refund is a right once processed, but the pipeline has queues. A notice is not a punishment; it is a question the department wants answered in writing.

• Refund delayed or not received — the standard ladder, step by step.
• Checking your refund status — what each status word really means.
• e-Nivaran and CPGRAMS for refund grievances — where complaints actually move.
• Demand notice raised, or refund adjusted against old dues — respond before it becomes recovery.
• The income tax notice guide — identify which notice you hold.
• Responding to a faceless assessment notice.
• RTI route for a delayed refund — when nothing else has worked.

Property sales bring the biggest tax bills and the most exemptions. The paperwork for an exemption often decides more than the sale price, because an exemption claimed without the right account or timeline simply fails in processing. Read the exemption rules before you receive the money, not after — several of them run on deadlines counted from the sale date.

• Long-term capital gains on property after Budget 2024 — the 12.5 percent rule explained.
• Capital gains on inherited property — the cost that carries over.
• Section 54F exemption when you buy a house.
• Capital Gains Account Scheme — parking the gain while you search.
• LTCG on shares and mutual funds — the market-side twin.

Small certificates create large tax bills when their interest goes undeclared, and small deductions create large refunds when they are claimed properly. These guides keep the small things declared. If one income type in this section matches something you own, open that guide before the filing deadline — most of these need a declaration to your employer or a line in the return itself.

• Section 87A rebate in the new regime — how tax falls to zero for moderate incomes.
• Section 80CCD(2) — employer NPS deduction.
• Kisan Vikas Patra interest, tax and ITR.
• NSC interest declaration and 80C accrual.
• Tax on gifts — Section 56(2)(x) — who can gift you tax-free.
• HRA exemption calculation.
• Gratuity tax exemption in the private sector.

New income types meet old procedures here. The tax law is settled even when the technology is not.

• Is crypto legal in India? — legality, plain and simple.
• Cryptocurrency laws, taxes and risks — the wider picture in one page.
• VDA tax under Section 115BBH and TDS under 194S.
• Agniveer Seva Nidhi package after 4 years — the corpus, and what happens to it.
• ESOP and RSU tax — perquisite now, capital gain later.
• NRI income tax basics — residency, DTAA and account types.

Grievance portals answer most stuck files. When months pass with nothing, the Right to Information Act forces the department to write back with reasons — which is exactly what a stuck refund needs.

• RTI for an income tax refund — the template route.
• RTI vs alternatives decision matrix — picking the right lever for a tax grievance.
• How to file an RTI — the complete guide.
• The RTI Playbook — the full citizen method for chasing any silent government office.

Curated for RTI Wiki by Dr. Shrawan Kumar Pathak.