Who is Required to File ITR in 2024-25 ?

Section 139(1) of Income Tax Act,1961 – Mandatory and Voluntary Returns

Under Section 139(1), in the following cases the filing of Income Tax Return is Mandatory:

• Every person who has a total income that exceeds the exemption limit Rs.300000 ( is liable to furnish Income Tax Return within the due date

• Any private, public, domestic or foreign country located and/or doing business in India

• Any firm including LLP (Limited Liability Partnership) or Unlimited Liability Partnership

• Any resident* who has an asset located outside of India (might include financial interest in some entity as well) OR any resident who retains signing authority for an account based outside India – for all these cases Tax return needs to be filed mandatorily in the prescribed form irrespective of the amount of tax liability on those incomes

• Every HUF (Hindu Undivided Family), AOP (Association of Persons) and BOI (Body of Individuals) – if the total income of these bodies or entities exceeds the prescribed exception limit, they are liable to file the Income Tax Return in the prescribed format with required documentation

*Resident-A taxpayer would qualify as a resident of India if he satisfies one of the following 2 conditions :

1. Stay in India for a year is 182 days or more or

2. Stay in India for the immediately 4 preceding years is 365 days or more and 60 days or more in the relevant financial year

In the following cases, the filing of Income Tax Return is Voluntary :

• In certain situations individuals or entities are not under compulsory requirement to file the return. In such cases their tax filings are considered as Voluntary returns, which are seen as valid tax returns.
  

Note: Under Section 139(1c), certain classes of people are exempt from filing income tax. If these classes of people fulfill the prescribed conditions, central government is empowered to grant them tax exemption. After issuing notice under Section 139(1c), it should be placed before each House of Parliament for 30 days when the sessions go on immediately following the notification. Upon agreement from both the Houses, modification will be done in the notification and will be effective. Otherwise notification will be ineffective.