Ten documents are needed in order to file an income tax return (ITR).

Gathering the paperwork needed to complete an income tax return (ITR) is the first stage in the filing procedure. While the income tax agency has streamlined the procedure by offering online pre-filled ITR forms, it is still the taxpayer's responsibility to verify the information with any pertinent papers. This makes it easier to file your ITR without making mistakes.

1. Aadhaar and PAN
When submitting an income tax return, PAN is a crucial document. Taxpayers are required to provide their PAN or Aadhaar while logging in or registering on the income tax e-filing platform. All taxes that are withdrawn or collected from the taxpayer throughout the year are deposited using PAN. When filing a tax return, the ITR form must have the correct PAN. The PAN will immediately appear in the ITR form when it is filed electronically using an account on the e-filing website.

2. Your employer's Form-16
Form 16 is a crucial document that salaried individuals need in order to submit their ITR. It is a TDS certificate that employers have given to their staff. It offers details on the entire amount of tax withheld from the worker's pay and placed against his or her PAN for the duration of the fiscal year, the total amount of income received from salary, and the deductions and exemptions the worker claimed in accordance with the selected tax regime. By June 15th, employers must provide employees with Form 16.

3. Bank Form 16A and additional TDS certificates
Other income, like interest from recurring deposits, fixed deposit interest, dividends, etc., is deductible from taxes. Banks, businesses, and other financial institutions must provide Form 16A if the tax was withheld during the fiscal year for which the tax return is being submitted. It is a TDS certificate that attests to the tax withheld from the individual's interest, dividends, and other payments.

4. Certificates of Interest
A person might get interest money from other sources besides banks. These consist of interest received from holdings in sovereign gold bonds, RBI floating rate bonds, post office schemes, etc. To accurately record income on the ITR form, interest certificates representing interest collected from a variety of sources must be gathered.

5. The AIS, or Annual Information Statement
It is recommended that taxpayers obtain their AIS using the income tax e-filing system. The statement includes details on the majority of an individual's revenue during the pertinent fiscal year. This includes, among other things, interest earned on savings account balances, capital gains from the sale of stocks and mutual funds, employer-provided income, and dividends.

6. Form 26AS
This tax passbook details the taxes that were deposited against the taxpayer's PAN during the financial year and withheld from various incomes. Form 26AS will also include any tax that is collected (TCS) from the taxpayer for costs like purchasing a car or taking a foreign tour. The information in the TDS certificates and the total amount of tax deposited against the taxpayer's PAN, as indicated in Form 26AS, must match. The income tax department will only permit tax credit on the amount reflected on Form 26AS and not in the TDS certificates, thus any discrepancy will cause problems for taxpayers.

7. Gains on capital
Income from capital gains must be reported by the taxpayer on the ITR form. Selling gold, real estate, buildings, shares in equity mutual funds, land, and other items might result in capital gains for the individual.

8. Proof of tax-saving investments and expenses
Those who choose to file a return under the previous tax regime must specifically select it when submitting their ITR this year. This is so because the default tax system is the new one. The only person eligible to claim certain income deductions and tax exemptions for specific earnings under the previous tax regime is the individual filing an ITR. Among these are the deductions under Section 80C up to Rs 1.5 lakh and Section 80D up to Rs 25,000 or Rs 50,000.