In Budget 2021, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced that senior citizens above 75 years who only have pension and interest as sources of income do not need to file income tax returns.
But it has come to light that to avail this facility, pension and interest should come in the same bank. If the senior citizen’s pension comes in one bank and FD interest is in another bank, then they will not get any relief from filing returns. This exemption will not be available to multiple FD account holders either.
Chandra Bhushan, 75, feels that the conditions limit the scope of benefits and very few people will get relief from this step. Nilesh Dalal, a resident and senior citizen of Mumbai, believes that this step will benefit only a small section of citizens.
“This should be seen as a pilot project. The government will get an idea of how many people are coming under this step,” he said.
Sudhir Kaushik, founder and CEO of Taxspanner.com, explained that if there is no tax liability, then senior citizens above 75 years of age do not have to file returns. But if there was higher tax deduction because Form 15H was not given on time, so return has to be filed for refunds.
If a senior citizen gets rental income, capital gains or dividend income, then also he has to file returns.
