Missed the Income Tax Proof Submission Deadline? Here's How You Can Still Save Tax

by Sakshi Mehrotra

If you are a salaried employee, then you are definitely asked to submit proof of investments made over the year to adjust tax deducted at source (TDS). The last date to submit evidence of assets varies across employers. It is generally required to be submitted between January and March. If you don’t offer these documents, your employer will deduct more TDS from your salary.

Consequently, it will not appear in your Form 16, but you can still save and get a refund from the ITR in such cases.

Following are the exemptions and deductions that one can claim if one missed the deadline for submitting the proof of investments:

Claim HRA Exemption

You don’t have to worry if you have not submitted rent receipts to your employer. You can still claim a house rent allowance (HRA) when filing your income tax returns and adjust the taxable portion of your HRA. You just need to have rent receipts and PAN of the house owner if your rent exceeds Rs 1 lakh.

Claim Deductions Under Section 80C With No Additional Investments

  • EPF Contribution is the amount that gets deducted from your salary for your Employees Provident Fund Scheme. The amount is 12% of your salary.
  • Children’s Tuition Fee -  Under Section 80C, up to 2 children’s fees can be deducted towards the sum paid. These payments include any school, college, university, or other educational institution situated within India for your children’s full-time education. It includes fees for play school, pre-nursery, and nursery.
  • Home Loan Principal Payment - Payments made towards principal repayment of a loan taken to buy or construct a residential house property are also allowed as a deduction.
  • Stamp Duty & Registration Fees - These expenses incurred to transfer the property to the taxpayer can be claimed as a deduction.  However, if you sell the property within five years from the date of purchase, then the asserted deductions would be added to your income and will be taxed in the year of sale.
  • Claim Health Insurance - If you have not yet exhausted your deduction limit under section 80D and you have a bill for a preventive health check-up, you can claim this bill and get a maximum of Rs 5,000 as a deduction.
  • Life Insurance Premium - These are premiums paid towards life insurance for self, spouse, and children who are eligible for deductions. If the policy is issued on or before March 31, an insurance premium of a maximum of 20% can be claimed as a tax deduction.

It's better to get a confirmation on the actual requirement from your accounts department. Not all will be asking for all the documents mentioned above, while a few others might have their own set of requirements.

If not submitted within time, the papers may make you end up with excess TDS, which would have to be claimed as a refund. Also, as a precaution, retain the original/photocopies for personal income-tax assessment, as the case may be.