My Experience with Income Tax Return (ITR) Filing

I once thought that if I know something (probably because I've learnt it somehow), I am saving money because then I don't have to pay someone to do that chore for me. This notion of mine has been smashed and boinked all around the place for the last couple of days. I am talking about filing my ITR (Income Tax Returns).

Context

In the past, during my school days, I have seen my parents getting irritated by the whole process. It was very cumbersome at that time- No online portals to make your work easy. ITR filing in India was a nightmare. I have seen my parents to delegate that task to professionals, who do it for a fee. The problem was, my parents never seem to mind that much about tax. I mean, they did moan about the atrocity that the Indian tax system is, but that's the extent of their outrage. I felt at that time, if they knew more on tax, they would be able to save more on taxes and also would be able to do proper tax planning. Oh boy, what a sweet dream that was!

My Life Till Now 

Oh, I'm not gonna talk about my whole life- just the adult parts where I have to think about taxes. Feeling from the first day of my job, that I'm gonna do this right, and I'm gonna do it myself- I start learning about taxes, tax deductions and many more. I started a job in 2019. Three and a half years move forward, I have done all the ITR filings myself. I've discussed and taken advice from people of course, but all the actual tasks- that was all me. I have even advised on pros and cons of different tax related issues in my workplace to a myriad of my colleagues too. But obviously, the path was not smooth.

What happened this year

Over time, my salary has increased, so have my taxes. This year, when the time for filings rolled on us, I thought, maybe it would be a good idea to take some expert help. Also as usual scenarios go, I listened to a great many tales of how some CAs were saving a lot of money for their unaware customers. Some of those customers being close to me, I listened warily how these helpful CAs know all the "dot on the i  and scratch on the t" and was able to save on taxes that were just not known to ordinary people like us. I consented. I thought, okay. it seems obvious that these guys, for whom it's their daily job, obviously they'll know more than me and they would be able to help me.

Now, here's the deal. I don't know a CA that I can trust implicitly. Also, I have a rough idea on how much "refund" I should be getting out of this years' ITR filing. So, I kept this as a test. At least that's what I thought. 

I started communication to a CA. I provided him with all my details so that he can do the computations necessary and can advise me (and also file the 'return' for me). Unfortunately, after a couple days and a couple of my pokes and proddings, the CA came up with the computations. The 'Return/ Refund' amount he calculated was less than one fourth of my rough estimation! 

Now, a lot of you might think that, obviously I made a mistake. But in this scenario, I knew that my rough estimation might be off by a little amount but not this much. I asked for clarifications. And after I pointed out few of the major (pun not intended)  points, He agreed with my rough estimation. Point to be noted is, He was charging me consultation fee for guess what?....consultation (again, no pun😅), to save taxes. And then I have to be the one to consult him on how to save 'my' taxes. Obviously, ,this solution wouldn't work. I paid him the consultation fee, told him..I would file my return by myself- Thanks but no thanks.

The problem was, the due date was nearer. I can't wait for a deadline extension that happened last year (due to Covid). So, long story short, I sacrificed a Saturday night of my life and filed my return for this year.

Lessons and My Thoughts NOW

I have been moaning, rambling a lot. So, let's finish this up. What's my lesson and what are my thoughts now? Let's try to do bullet points, because....that's easy to see

• Never Trust someone with your money completely. 
• Someone might get benefitted by a professional; that does not ensure, you'll get benefitted too.
• You should know your stuff...even if you're hiring someone for it. You should know enough, so that you are not duped or cheated on. 

So, my thoughts now, 

I feel ITR filing is really a tedious, cumbersome job. Also, one bad experience doesn't mean that I know all the answers. Rather, I feel there are a lot of qualified people that know way more than me, and I'm in search of them. Because, let's face it. The online portal is too buggy. Even simple tasks take long time and even then there might be bugs. Also, there are so many legal jargons and legal references, that I feel it has been made intentionally difficult for normal, ordinary people. Another point is that, a lot of the things mentioned there are either vague or written in such a manner that you would be confused- which one would be applicable to you.

So, for all these reasons, though I had to file my returns by myself, I've vowed that I won't do it again. I would search a good, knowledgeable person, whom I can trust and delegate this task for the professional. 

Until next time, Bye, take care. And do File your return, if you are eligible.

Thanks!