My mother is 71 years old and has a Permanent Account Number (PAN). She earns Rs 50,000 from here FDs each year and has a rental income which adds up to Rs 2.4 lakh. There is no other investment or savings that she has. Does she need to file tax returns? She has a PAN.
Rupa Samanth, Bangalore
The total money that your mother is earning works to Rs 2.9 lakh in a financial year, which is below the Rs 3 lakh threshold in case of senior citizens who are over 60 years old, but below 80 to file tax returns. So, it is not mandatory for her to file tax returns. However, as the interest that she is earning from her bank deposits exceeds Rs 10,000 in a financial year, they may be deducting TDS on the same. In such a case, she will need to file her tax returns to claim a refund on the tax deducted at source.
There is a way to circumvent this procedure if your mother submits Form 15H to her bank declaring that the tax on her estimated total income would be nil. In such a case, tax would not be deducted at source by the bank on the fixed deposit interest.
