Income
Tax
Income tax is a direct tax
levied by the government on the income earned by individuals,
corporations, or unincorporated businesses etc during a financial year.
In India, it is paid to the Central Government and is governed by the
Income Tax Act 1961.
As per the Income Tax Act 1961, an assessee (a person who pays tax or
any other amount of money under the Income Tax Act) will be charged a
prescribed income tax rate beyond the income exceeding the maximum
exemption limit.
Income Heads
For taxation purpose, incomes are categorized into 5 different heads
- Income from Salary
- Rental Income
- Income from Business and Profession
- Capital Gains
- Income from other sources
In India every assessee is given a unique PAN (personal account
number) with 10 characters allotted by the Income Tax Department. This
is a permanent number and does not change with change in address or the
assessing officer etc.
The taxation slabs and other rebates and deductions keep changing in
different financial years.
The Government of India is undertaking various steps and measures to
ensure the ease of an assessee while filing returns. There are different
forms available for individuals / business firms / corporations etc.