eLagaan - Income Tax India Blog

Due date for Filing Income tax return extended to 04-Aug-2010

2010-07-31T21:51:00.003+05:30

CBDT in a recent press release has announced extension of due date for filing income tax returns. Now income tax returns filed upto 04-Aug-2010 shall be considered as filed within the due date.

So go ahead and prepare your tax returns if you have still not done so.

A recent press release attributed some snag in the efiling system and inclement weather conditions at many location as the reason for extension of date. More details at Income Tax Website.

eLagaan offers the most convenient and user friendly way to prepare your income tax return right from your desktop. So you need not travel anywhere in this inclement weather and file your tax returns from the comfort of your home. eLagaan has been rated # 1 in India by variety of TV Channels and Newspapers for 2nd successive year.

Suvarana News TV - Hassle free way of preparing income tax returns

2010-07-21T00:33:00.005+05:30

Suvarna News 24x7 TV (a Star TV Channel - Kannada) finds during a recent review of our income tax return tool, that eLagaan is simple and easy to use, takes only 10-15 minutes for end to end process and is hassle free (no need to stand in queues, fill up long forms etc.)

Now you need not waste time, money and efforts to prepare your tax returns. Act smart and choose the right way of preparing income tax returns.

eLagaan has been Rated # 1 in India by variety of TV Channels, Newspapers and other medias for 2 successive years.

Kasthuri TV - Income Tax Returns made Easy at eLagaan.com

2010-07-19T00:35:00.005+05:30

Kasthuri TV (one of the most popular channels in Karnataka) reviews our tax return preparation process and finds how easy it is now to prepare your tax returns at eLagaan. "It takes only few minutes to prepare your returns and is very convenient and user friendly". "eLagaan offers systematic process so that chances of any errors are eliminated". These are few of comments and reviews given by our users while discussing with Kasthuri TV team.

Now you donot need any tax expert to file your tax returns. You can do it completely on your own and proceed with eFiling (recommended) or manual filing, all right from your desktop/ home.

If you are still waiting for a tax expert to come and file your tax return, try eLagaan and discover on your own as to why eLagaan has been Rated # 1 in India for 2 years in succession.

eLagaan is now Authorised PAN Service Agent

2010-06-26T02:46:00.003+05:30

UTI Technology Services Limited, one of the 2 agencies appointed to issue PAN cards in India by Income Tax Department, has appointed us (Lamingo) as Authorized PAN Service Agent. This means that we can accept PAN applications from customers and process them directly without a 3rd party intermediary.

Get your PAN card right from the comfort of your home now. You don't have to travel anywhere or take any hassles in getting a PAN card. Send us the filled PAN application alongwith required supportings over post/ courier and get the PAN card at your doorstep. eLagaan brings the best of technology and service assurance levels to ensure hassle free PAN cards for all its users.

Checkout our extensive Knowledge Base on PAN cards to get answers to all your PAN queries.

Important Note: As per new provision of tax deduction at source (TDS) under the Income Tax Act 1961 effective from April 1, 2010, TDS at higher of the prescribed rate or 20% will be deducted on all transactions liable to TDS, where the Permanent Account Number (PAN) of the deductee is not available.

Meet eLagaan team in Booth#28 @ Startup City event

2010-05-28T08:20:00.005+05:30

eLagaan is exhibiting at Startup City on May 29 & 30, 2010. We have planned special packages, surprise gifts, exciting events etc. during these 2 days. So come and meet the eLagaan team at Booth#28.

eLagaan will unveil whole new range of business support pages to make it more user friendly, transparent and informative.

So if you are looking to Register a company in India & USA, or looking for expert CA services for your business, connect with us to see how eLagaan can work with your organization.

Silicon India has been organizing startup city event every year, helping various startups to connect and network with each other. The demand has been increasing and it is estimated that about 10000 people will attend the event this year.

eLagaan ties up with Commonfloor

2010-05-10T10:29:00.007+05:30

eLagaan announces special tie up with Commonfloor to help serve the residents and associations in a effective, professional and efficient manner.

Commonfloor users can now enjoy an exclusive discount of 10% on online tax return products from eLagaan. Please contact the Commonfloor support or eLagaan Support for more details on the offer and how to avail the same or visit this page for more details.

Housing Associations registered with Commonfloor can also enjoy special discounted prices on various services like registering your association, filing annual returns and complying with various statutory requirements etc.

About eLagaan:

eLagaan offers a variety of tax and compliances related services and has been ranked # 1 in India by various TV Channels, newspapers, blogs and other medias. eLagaan focuses on simplicity and making the whole process simple to use.

About Commonfloor:

CommonFloor is an online application that provides a feature rich and private portal for your residential community (Apartment Complex, Gated Layout, Villas or a Colony), to help you have better and effective information sharing among all members.

eLagaan accepts Itz Cash payments

2010-05-10T09:43:00.004+05:30

eLagaan brings the power of cash cards to tax preparation and other services. After a long pending demand of our users, we have now enabled accepting Itz Cash cards for making payments for our entire range of services.

Itz Cash cards are No. 1 in India for cash card transactions with about 20,000 distributors and agents spread across India. You can also walk in to any Itz Cash outlet to get help on your various tax related queries.

Paypal - New Withdrawal Instructions for India

2010-03-02T01:31:00.002+05:30

eLagaan releases detailed purpose codes for export transactions. These can be used while initiating withdrawals from Paypal account or wherever the purpose codes are required to be furnished.

Paypal in their blog today announced new bank withdrawal instructions for their customers in India.
"As I indicated in my earlier blog post, we are making changes to comply with Indian regulations for settlements for exports of goods and services. In order to facilitate this process, PayPal will be suspending new withdrawals on March 1, 2010. We expect to resume the service on March 3rd. When you select the ‘Withdraw Funds’ option on your PayPal account after March 3rd, we will ask you to fill out a new field entitled ‘Purpose Code’. This information is required under the laws of India in order to identify the nature of cross-border merchant transactions."

What is Purpose Code?
Purpose codes are unique codes used by your bankers to furnish various information to Reserve Bank of India. You donot need any registration for purpose codes and they are pre-defined. For any international business transactions which mandates a purpose code, the same should be specified.

When is Purpose code needed?
Whenever you receive money at your Bank in India, your Bankers will require a purpose code to be associated, if the money received is for a international commercial transaction. Only after identifying the purpose code, the banker can credit the amount to your account. Since the bankers are not aware of the purpose for which the money is received, you should provide the purpose for the same.

You can check out details of various purpose codes here. Please confirm with your bankers once before actually using the same.

Get Export code for Paypal

2010-02-28T13:50:00.009+05:30

eLagaan announces special package for getting export code to get your money from Paypal.

INDIVIDUALS can also get an export code.

As many of you may be aware that PayPal recently announced that all the Business owners need to have an export code to withdraw money (see below).

To support our users on this issue we have created a special page for information on IEC (Import Export Code) here. Also noticeable is the detailed IEC FAQ.

Here is a small presentation on the subject.

Get Your Import Export Code (IEC) for India

View more presentations from eLagaan Income Tax India.

Here is what we have from Paypal's recently announced in their blog:
"I’m pleased to tell you that the RBI has now allowed us to resume bank withdrawals for settlements for exports of goods and services. We are currently making changes to comply with Indian regulations for settlements for exports of goods and services, and we anticipate that as of Wednesday, March 3rd, we will be able to resume the bank withdrawal service. As part of the changes, you will be required to fill out a new field entitled ‘Export Code’ when you request a withdrawal. This information is required under the current laws of India in order to identify the nature of cross-border merchant transactions. On Monday, March 1st, we will be back in touch with specific instructions on how you can move your money into your bank account. I will be posting another blog then. I’d like to thank the RBI for working with us to get this addressed. We know this is an inconvenience to you and we appreciate your patience. Moving forward, the RBI has told us that PayPal needs specific approvals to allow personal inward remittances to India, which we currently do not have. Until we get these approvals, personal payments into India will remain suspended. However, if you are an exporter, you will continue to be able to use the PayPal service for payments of goods and services. In fact, with the changes we are making to our system, PayPal is now set to be a more powerful engine for exporters in India. With purpose codes for export transactions and FIRCs (Foreign Inward Remittance Certificates), you should now be able to get the export related benefits you seek."

Click here to get your export code for Paypal in just few clicks.
For more details on import export code, checkout our IEC page or IEC FAQs.

Budget 2010 - The Greens & Reds

2010-02-27T09:27:00.005+05:30

India has been looking forward to a progressive budget after recent recession to boost the economy and control inflation. This year budget can be term as Populist as many stimulus has been rolled back. But it has more of Greens and less of Reds, so relax and donot get tensed.

For Individuals:
* The basic exemption slab has not been changed and kept at existing Rs.1.6 Lacs
* Tax slabs has been changed to provide relief to middle and high income earners. The new tax slabs are:
# upto 1.6 Lacs - NIL
# 1.6 to 5 Lacs - 10%
# 5 to 8 Lacs - 20%
# Above 8 Lacs - 30%

* Additional Deduction of Rs.20,000/- is provided u/s 80C (in addition to existing Rs.1 Lac) for investments in Long term infrastructure bonds as notified by Central Government bonds
* Ambit of deductions in respect of contributions to Health insurance schemes has been widened to include Central Government Health Schemes.
* Saral-2 to be introduced for current year instead of ITR. eLagaan will launch the new forms as soon as the same are released by IT department, so no more worry with changing formats when you prepare the tax returns at eLagaan.

For Businesses:
* Surcharge for companies has been reduced from 10% to 7.5%
* Minimum Alternate tax has been increased from 15% to 18% of book profits
* Deductions in respect of expenses incurred on in-house research & development has been increased from 150% to 200%
* Deduction on payments made to approved research institutes for scientific research has been increased from 125% t0 175%
* Limit for accounts to be audited has been increased from 40Lacs to 60lacs for businesses and from 10lacs to 15Lacs for Professionals
* Interest for delay in depositing taxes has been increased from 12%p.a. to 18%p.a

Other Highlights
* Petrol and diesel will cost more
* Normal cars to cost more and ELECTRIC cars to cost less
* Custom duty on precioous metals like Gold, Platinum etc. hiked from Rs.200 to Rs.300 per gram
* GST and Direct Tax Code to be applicable from 01-Apr-2011

Headstart appreciates eLagaan for supporting Startups & Enterpreneurs

2010-02-22T10:34:00.010+05:30

Headstart network appreciated eLagaan at their 2nd Anniversary Celebrations of Startup Saturday on 13-Feb-2010, for our various activties and commitment to Startups, Small Businesses and Entrepreneurs.

We are truely moved by this gesture and THANK Headstart for the same. We also acknowledge and complement Headstart network for their unbiased support and efforts to ensure success and recognition for Startups. We pledge to continue our support.

Changes to Privacy Policies

2010-02-10T03:53:00.003+05:30

At eLagaan, we are aware of the trust you place in us and our responsibility to protect your privacy. As part of this responsibility, we have updated our privacy policies to ensure more transparency, security and safety of your data.

Please visit eLagaan Privacy Central for more details on the updated Privacy Policies. These policies are in effect from 10-Feb-2010 00:00 Hrs IST.

For any privacy related queries, please feel free to write to us at support AT eLagaan DOT com.

-eLagaan Support

Team eLagaan in Jury panel of Tarkash 2010

2010-01-19T03:42:00.003+05:30

Navin Kumar from Team eLagaan was invited to Jury panel at Tarkash 2010 organized by ICFAI Business School, Bangalore.

It was great to be back to School after so long. The talent and passion demonstrated by these young grads was amazing. Many ideas were very innovative and addressed a large pain segment for Indians.

eLagaan congratulates the winning team wefaculty.com and wishes all success to all the teams. Salute to the Young face of Entrepreneurship.

Meet the Ideas that can change your life

2009-11-23T15:48:00.018+05:30

National Geographic Channel is conducting a nationwide contest to identify innovative ideas that has the potential of changing our lives.

eLagaan has always been happy to support promising ideas and young talents in whatever way we can. eLagaan team brings some of these ideas unplugged to you from the contestants and winners of the Regional Finals - South, held at IIM Bangalore.

We wish them all success and luck for the Finals of the event to be held at New Delhi. Great Job!!! guys and keep up this spirit of innovation and entrepreneurship.

Wish you a Happy & Prosperous Diwali !!!

2009-10-17T10:17:00.003+05:30

eLagaan Team wishes all our users, readers & subscribers a Very Happy, Prosperous, Healthy and Safe Diwali 2009 !!!

Diwali is celebrated across the globe as Festival of Lights to mark the triumph of Good over Evil and Light over Darkness.

eLagaan Free taxCAMP on 03-Oct-2009 @ Bangalore

2009-09-21T01:26:00.008+05:30

AGENDA: Keep More of Your Salary & Save On Taxes

The freeze on salary hikes/ salary cuts and increasing inflation has made life difficult and challenging. This years' budget has provided very small relief by increasing the exemption slab from Rs.1.5lacs to Rs.1.6lacs. What should be done to get more of salary. One easier way could be to cut on your tax bills substantially and pocket this as your savings.

taxCAMP focusses on various avenues where you can reduce your taxes and also make your money grow, giving you double edged sword to combat inflation and salary cuts.

- Know your salary income
- Understand tax implications of various components
- Tips for taking Tax at POINT BLANK

This will be followed by a quick roundup about Basics on Income Tax, Filing of Tax returns and Tax refund process.
Get answers to your tax queries from our Tax Titans in an exclusive Question Answer session.
For advanced guidance and personalised services, you can interact with eLagaan team. Put them to the taxing task while you focus on your other core activities.
Before you pack off, network with other people, exchange ideas and concerns.

Schedule
10:00AM - 10:15AM : Registration
10:15AM - 11:00AM : Keep More of Your Salary & Save On Taxes
11:00AM - 12:00PM : Head-on with Tax Titans
12:00PM - 12:30PM : MEN at Work
12:30PM - 01:00PM : Networking session

Venue:
Indian Heritage Academy,
20th Main, VI Block, Koramangala,
Besides Koramanagala Police Station,
Next to Anjaneya Temple,
Bangalore 560095

Registration:
- FREE. No hidden charges of any type. (visit taxCAMP page to register)
- Feel free to bring a friend.
- Limited seats on first come basis

Would you like to setup a booth?
If you are a Service Provider individual or company, or you have a product that could help our attendees achieve the goal on saving taxes contact us and we can provide you a booth. And yes ofcourse, the booth is completely FREE too !!

About eLagaan taxCAMP
eLagaan taxCAMP is an unique program to empower Indian tax payers.

It provides a platform to :
- Know the critical aspects of income tax from general tax payer's perspective
- Learn tips and tricks to save taxes and money
- Clear the myths and mis-conception about income tax
- Get answers to your various queries on taxation from experts and authentic sources
- Understand the various processes like filing of returns, income tax refunds etc
- Networking with tax payers and tax experts

taxCAMP uses an easy-to-understand format keeping in view the needs of general tax payers. Attend a taxCAMP to empower your tax senses and live a dignified, less taxing life.

31 July is Due date & NOT the Last date

2009-08-05T20:03:00.002+05:30

Every individual tax payer thinks 31 July is the last date of filing income tax return. This year there has been some mis-communication from income tax department as well stating July 31 is the last date of filing returns. The same was rectified and communicated in news papers.

The last date of filing income tax returns is 31 Mar and due date of filing income tax returns is 31 July.

There are few facilities which is not available for late returns (returns filed after 31 July). These are the impacts of late filing:
1. Interest: You will be liable for penal Interest u/s 234A @ 1% per month on the amount of tax due from the due date of filing returns.
2. Carry Forward of Losses: Losses like Business Loss (speculative or otherwise), Capital Loss (short term or long term), and Loss from owning and maintaining race horses are not allowed to be carried forward. Other losses, if any can be carried forward.
3. Revision: Late returns cannot be revised except if it is in pursuance of a notice under section 142(1)
4. Deductions: Deductions u/s 10A, 10B, 80-IA, 80-IAB, 80-IB and 80-IC are not allowed

Generally most of the individual tax payers under ITR1 and ITR2 category, donot have any losses to be carried forward. When you use eLagaan to prepare your tax returns, you can be assured of perfect returns, so no need to revise a return. So go ahead and prepare your tax returns for FREE at eLagaan without worrying that you have missed the 31 July deadline.

Remember 31 July is the due date and NOT the last date to file your returns.

How to file Income Tax Returns - A Guide

2009-07-29T23:34:00.003+05:30

Here is a simple step by step guide on how to file you income tax returns in India. Use these simple steps to file your tax return (ITR, ITR1, ITR2, ITR3 etc) with no hassle with the Income tax department.

If you have further questions browse our Tax FAQ or ask away the question at our income tax forums. And remember preparing your income tax return is really easy and free with eLagaan.

Udaya TV talks about filing taxes in India - Interview with eLagaan team

2009-07-29T03:54:00.003+05:30

Udaya TV (Top Kannada News Channel) talks about benefits of filing income tax returns with eLagaan.

In the small segment of video the eLagaan team talks about how for some tax payers July'31 may not be the last day to file income tax.

Udaya TV is a part of SUN TV Network.

OTV from Orissa talks about filing income tax returns with eLagaan

2009-07-27T13:23:00.005+05:30

From the konark state Orissa OTV (Oriya) talks about various advantages of using eLagaan for preparing and filing your income tax returns in India.

They interview the happy customers of eLagaan who have already experienced the diffrence and are now recommending our services to other customers. Thanks Rohit for the good words and we look forward to continue to file your income tax returns for years to come and all for FREE !!

Here is the video:

And remember to have all your tax questions answered at the tax forum or just read our income tax faq.

News9 TV rates eLagaan as #1 to prepare your income tax return in India

2009-07-26T19:52:00.007+05:30

News9 TV in its Namaskara Bengaluru calls eLagaan a "good news" because it allows you to file income tax return free of charge following simple and easy steps. Just by following these steps you are able to now prepare you ITR It highlights the point that you can do all that without the help of a Chartered Accountant.

News9 TV compares it with other website and credits eLagaan on being the first website which allows such a simple tax return preparation with so much ease (as compared to other solutions). They also talk about the various tax preparation packages whose details can be found at http://elagaan.com/taxninja .

And as always get solutions to all your tax problems at our income tax forums.

Who is the Highest tax payer in the Indian Cricket team ?

2009-07-25T01:31:00.005+05:30

Well you are about to find out. Following slides from eLagaan team demystifies it all !!

So without further delay see who paid the highest taxes and who moved up in the list and when they moved up did they make money or loose money from the last year !!

To clue you in here are the names are in the list, but you have to put them in order !!

Yuvraj Singh, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag

And remember eLagaan can reduce your income tax by smart calculation of taxes, so start your tax preparation today for FREE.

Need a Chartered Accountant to prepare your Income Tax Return?

2009-07-24T14:08:00.006+05:30

So you think you need a Chartered Accountant to prepare you income tax returns ? We we think so too !!

But we don't think you should rely on just any CA.

Just like any other profession there are people of all caliber, and types. That is why eLagaan works with only the best of the Chartered Accountants to build its software, and guess we don't just work with one CA, we have a team of CA who build the tools that works for you.

Well not only that, our users have told us that:

1. When they approach a CA they charge them a arm and a leg to prepare their tax return.

2. You talk to a CA and they end up sending you an Office Boy in a tie and a shirt. Who of course does not know much about taxes, and can potential end up paying more taxes on your behalf then you should. Not to mention the troubles with filing an incorrect tax return.

With eLagaan we have mastered the process with the help of these same top notch CA, so that there is no room for human error on a case to case basis. And we offer the product for free, so you get to keep you arm & the leg :-)

To start preparing you retruns for FREE visit http://elagaan.com/taxninja and send your income tax queries thru our tax forums.

Kasthuri TV - Prepare you IT Return with ease from home

2009-07-24T12:56:00.006+05:30

Kashthuri TV (Kannada) recently rated us #1 (Top) place for preparing income tax returns in India.

Below is the clip from the segment which talks about eLagaan. In the segment Kasthuri TV discusses how eLagaan has made it possible for indian tax payers to prepare their tax return from the comfort of home. They also talk about how most people take the challenging and expensive route of looking for Chartered Accountants, which of course is not required while you prepare your returns using eLagaan.

In an interview our clarified that tax preparation with us is not only completely quick & secure but also FREE.

Kasthuri TV also clarified that usually it is very complicated to prepare tax return due to various complecated tax return forms, however at eLagaan a easy question answer format makes it very easy to prepare income tax returns.

We encourage you to give our tax preparation service a try for FREE at http://elagaan.com/taxninja

To see what other TV Channels are talking about us visit eLagaan YouTube Channel

Suvarna TV Rates eLagaan #1 place to Income Tax Filing in India

2009-07-24T10:09:00.008+05:30

Suvarna TV (A Star TV Channel - Kannada) rates eLagaan as the #1 place to Prepare & File your Income Tax Online for India.

Below is a video to see a preview of the segment run by the Suvarna TV. The segment talks about the various packages offered by eLagaan, the user friendliness and how it can save tax payers a lot of headache all the convenience of your home.

It also stresses the fact that eLagaan offers this service completely FREE to huge amount of tax payers in India.

And yes it is true, we do provide FREE tax filing for almost 80% of the userbase. Check out http://elagaan.com/taxninja for details.

And as always submit your tax queries here, and look at all the Income Tax FAQ here.