Senior citizens not required to deposit advance tax

S.C. Vasudeva

I am a retired senior citizen. Kindly advise me if the ITR filing is the right way with the provision that there is no need to deposit advance tax for senior citizens since 2013.

My income is as under

1. Pension                                                 Rs 3,09,630

2. Interest on FDs and saving account         Rs 2,93,685

Gross income (total)                                 Rs 6,03,315

Rebate u/s 80C                                         Rs 1,50,000

u/s 80D                                         Rs 5,000

u/s 80TTA                                         Rs 10,000

Total rebate                                 Rs 1,65,000

Taxable income                                 Rs 4,38,315

Tax paid                                                 (13,832-2,000=11832+355) paid on 27.04.2015. Rs 12,187

My queries are as under

1. Whether the ITR filed is correct?

2. I have submitted form 15H to the bank for not deducting the TDS on FDs.

3. I have also given an undertaking to the SBI Bank (pension branch) that the savings amount for rebate shall be deposited in the PPF and LIC account and therefore, the bank did not deduct TDS from my pension.

4. Total income tax was paid before filing the ITR.

Kindly see if my points 1 to 4 above are in the right direction for filing ITR or advise the right way for future filing of ITR — Madan Lal Singla

Your queries are replied hereunder:

(a) You are correct in observing that senior citizens are not required to deposit any advance tax in case they do not have any income under head profits and gains from business or profession.

(b) Deduction allowable under Section 80D is limited to Rs 20,000 and your claim is less than the allowable deduction under the said section. In case you have paid medical insurance to the extent of Rs 20,000, you can revise your return and claim the permissible deduction. Form 15H can be submitted by a senior citizen in case tax payable on his estimated income is nil and therefore you could not have submitted Form 15H to the bank. Your assertion therefore in this regard is not correct. The tax paid by you on the basis of the income indicated in your query is correct.  

A credit entry has been found in the bank account which is on account of an amount withdrawn from the bank account of a religious institution and utilised for personal purposes with the intention of returning the money. It is alleged that this is embezzlement of funds. Kindly let me know if this amount can be treated as an income of a person in whose account the amount has been credited. — Rajiv Agarwal

In the case cited by you, the issue which will have to be determined is the intention behind the withdrawal of the amount by a person. In case the intention is to refund the amount, which can be proved by a documentary or any other evidence, the amount so withdrawn cannot be treated as income of the person who has withdrawn the amount for personal use. The allegation as to embezzlement will have to be proved.  It may be added that an unauthorised use of money may be treated as embezzlement but may not be an 'income' of the person who has made such use. The 'income' as per decided cases should flow from a source. A source of income may be described as the spring from which a clearly defined channel of income flows.  In view of the above definition, it may be difficult to say that alleged amount of embezzlement is an income in the hands of the person who is alleged to have embezzled it. 

In the Budget for 2015-16, the Central Government approved a deduction of Rs 50,000 under Section 80C of the Income-tax Act for investment in New Pension System (NPS). The Government of India also issued an advertisement in the newspapers in the month of September 2015. Please give details of this investment.

The Finance Act, 2015, has introduced a new sub-section 1B in Section 80CCD w.e.f. 1.4.2016 applicable for Assessment Year 2016-17 relevant to the financial year 2015-16.  According to this sub-section, an assessee who is an employee or who is not an employee can contribute to a pension scheme to be notified by the Central Government and an amount paid or deposited in a year, not exceeding Rs 50,000 under the said scheme shall be allowed a deduction against his total income. The amount standing to the credit of the assessee in his account together with the interest accrued thereon which is received by an assessee or his nominee in whole or part in any previous year on account of the closure or opting out of the aforesaid pension scheme, the whole of the amount shall be treated as an income of an assessee or his nominee as the case may be, in the previous year in which such amount is received and shall accordingly be charged to income-tax as income of that previous year.