This is the time of the year when you ponder over the tax you paid and the investments you made.

Were you prudent with your investments last year? Did they help you save tax? Or did you end up paying more than you could afford?

What investment mistakes did you make last year? Are their ways to rectify them?

In an hour-long chat on rediff.com on Thursday, direct tax expert Vikas M Gandhi spoke addressed our readers' queries. Here is the transcript:

Vikas Gandhi says, Good evening friends and welcome again to the Tax chat session. I know with the due date nearing, you are eagerly waiting to get your queries resolved. So why wait more, lets start.....

sukumar asked, FOR TAX REFUND WETHER ENCLOSURES ARE ACCEPTED IN THE NEW FORMAT AND ALSO WHAT IS THE LAST FOR FILING RETURNS

Vikas Gandhi answers,  at 2007-07-05 15:52:02 For this year, you are not required to submit any additional documents with your income tax return. Be it a case of refund also. The last date of filing income tax return is 31st July, provided your books are not subject to audit under Income Tax Act.

sukhwinder asked, i have not receive Tax refund for financial year 2004-05 as well as 2005-06.

Vikas Gandhi answers, In a case where you have not received Tax refund for earlier, you will need to contact your Income Tax Officer with whom you filed your income tax return.

macmib asked, Hi,I am on retainership in pvt company,which tax form I am suppose to fill whether it is ITR1 or ITR2?

Vikas Gandhi answers, Since you are on retainership, you will be receiving amount as Professional Fees and not as Salary. Hence you will have to file ITR-4 and not ITR-1 or ITR-2

macmib asked, what is the period of getting tax refund?

Vikas Gandhi answers, There is no specific defined period for getting income tax refund.

sks asked, Hi,Whats the limit for income tax exemption for HRA .I am paying 14000 rent.But My house owner is not ready to give his PAN no.Whereas my company is asking for same.Coudl you help me out?

Vikas Gandhi answers, The exempt amount of HRa will be lower of following - a) Actual HRA received b) 50% of Basic Salary + DA (for metro cities, otherwise 40%) c) Rent paid in excess of 10% of Basic Salary + DA. As far as PAN of your landlord is concerned, it is not mandatory for you or your company to know the same, nor is he is liable to give you the same.

Dinesh asked, Hi Vikas,I am new emplyee what is the procedure to claim tax refund

Vikas Gandhi answers, To claim your tax refund, you will have to file your income tax return in time.

Susanta asked, Dear Sir, I am a NRI. Recently I have invested some amount in Indian Mutual Funds and few in Bank
FDs. But I have not applied for PAN card yet, planning to apply shortly. Shall I pay the tax for the year 2007-08 & file the return. My Income from various sources in India may not exceed Rs. 1.l per anum.
Vikas Gandhi answers, If your income is not exceeding Rs.1 lakh, you need not file tour income tax return.

macmib asked, Since I am on retainership in pvt company,how can I recover my TDS ?

Vikas Gandhi answers, If your tax computation results in refund, after giving effect to the TDS amount, you can certainly recover back the excess part, provided you file your income tax return.

BUNTY asked, PLS ELOBARATE WHETHJER I REQUIRED TO FILL TAX RETURN IF MY WIFE IS A HOUSE WIFE AND INVETS IN SHARE ,MUTUAL FUNDS AND CONDUCT COACHING CLASSES ,OVERALL INCOME IS Rs 1.25 LACS ,DO I NEED TO FILL TAX RETURN ???

Vikas Gandhi answers, Since the overall income of your wife is below the taxable limit, she is not required to file her income tax return.

Sunil asked, sir, my total income is 2.50 lacs, how much income tax will be generated ? pls ...

Vikas Gandhi answers, On net taxable income of Rs2.50 lakh, you will have to pay a tax of Rs.25,500/- plus interest as per Act.

A asked, Hi, i am taking home loan, it is on my mother name, i am working woman, am i eligible for Income Tax Benefits?

Vikas Gandhi answers, You cannnot take benefit for a home loan which has been taken in some other persons name.

Alpesh asked, do we need to mention interest which we have received against our savings

Vikas Gandhi answers, Yes. You certainly have to mention this interest, however small the amount is.

fds asked, I had purchased few shares of infosys. Last year I have recieved the dividend. Which ITR form should I use to file my return?

Vikas Gandhi answers, You have only mentioned about your dividend income, but have remained silent about other or main source of income. Assuming that your main source of income is Salary and you have received dividend, you will have to use ITR-2 for filing income tax return.

Rashmi asked, What is the rate of LTCG currently.Is it tax free in case of Mutual funds.

Vikas Gandhi answers, Long Term Capital Gains are either taxed @ 10% or 20%. However if you have paid SEcurities Transaction Tax (STT) on sale, the entire Long Term Capital Gain is exempt. Long Term Capital Gain on mutual fund is exempt if it fulfils the following condition- a) It is equity oriented fund; and b) You have paid STT on sale.

Vasudev asked, Dear Vikas, Iam having an own house and right now iam living in a rented home. For the own house I do have a housing loan and right now my parents are staying there.Both the homes are in bangalore. My Question is that can I claim both HRA and Housing Loan Exemption.

Vikas Gandhi answers, If you are staying in a rented house, owing to your employment, you can claim both the benefits

seddy asked, I have joined a new company in the IT sector in november 2006. I found that I received a 1 lakh exeption from the new company too..Does this mean, I have to pay back 30k to the government. Is there a workaround or if I can atleast reduce the amount to an extent

Vikas Gandhi answers, Since both of your employers have given you the basic exemption limit of Rs.1,00,000/- while deducting TDS, you certainly have to pay tax. Since the year is alreday over, there is no way you can reduce the tax amount.

amittax asked, vikas, My mother-in-law gets some money as interest from fixed deposit. She is a widow and she has no other income. So she has filled up a form in the bank (i think form 15g or 15h, not sure which one). By filling up this form they dont deduct tax. But she also gets some money as house rent. So my query is: should she pay tax for the fixed deposit interest and the house rent or she should pay tax only on the house rent.

Vikas Gandhi answers, Your mother-in-law has to pay tax, both on house rent and interest on fixed deposit. Infact if the total income is exceeding Rs.1,95,000/- (assuming she is a senior citizen), she should also not submit the form (15G / 15H) to the bank and allow bank to deduct TDS

Gopal asked, Hi Vikas, I could not submit the orginal documents of Tax saving, (i.e whatever i have given tax declaration in start of the year) so those are not reflected in Form16, now is it possible to enclose those documents while filing for IT returns??

Vikas Gandhi answers, Even though the investments you made are not reflected in Form 16, you can claim the same while filing income tax return. However don't enclose these documents with the income tax return but retain it with you for future reference (Use www.taxsmile.com for preparing your income tax return)

sai asked, sir, my total annual income is 2.75 lacs , how much income tax will be generated ? pls and what are the ways to save tax

Vikas Gandhi answers, On a income of Rs.2.75 lacs, you have to pay a tax of Rs.33,150/-. this amount will have to be increased by interest amount

Vikas asked, Hi Mr. Gandhi, I am a salried person. Apart I am also having few shares in which I am second applicant. My question is whether only first holder will file return for those shares or I should show them in mine return.?

Vikas Gandhi answers, It is generally the first owner who has to file income tax return.

nagesh asked, hi.iam nag.Even though i took PAN 3 YERAS back,for the first time iam going to file a itax return.Earlier TDS was happened for the 1 year after taking PAN card.In the 2 nd year TDS was not happened.In the 3rd year TDS has happened but with 2 different employers.and they have given TDS certificates seperately for the full year.For tax return file whether i have to attach both TDS certificated and calculate self assessment tax deducting RENT paid.pls suggest and which form i should use as a salaried employee

Vikas Gandhi answers, At the outset, you do not have to attach any documents with the income tax return. As far calculatinr your tax, you have to consider the salary received from both the employer. Yiu cannot deduct any rent from the income. However you can claim exemption from HRA. You can use ITR-1 for filing income tax return.

Roshan asked, I haven't filed returns for last two years although paid my taxes, can I file returns now?

Vikas Gandhi answers, Since you have already paid the taxes for the earlier years, you should file income tax returns for those years at the earliest.

venuabc asked, Hi,FYI.. Original FORM16 is need to submit if the u r expecting the refund from the INcome tax(I have submitted the form 16 along with the return form while filing my returns). plz carry u r original FORM 16 along with the return Forms.

Vikas Gandhi answers, It is a clear instructions from the Income Tax Department that any additional document attached with the income tax return should be detached by the income tax officials. You can refer the instrucitons given at the end of each ITR form. So please don't get misguided. Keep all the original documents with you and furnish the same when called for by the Income tax Officer

raghvi asked, Hello, I have Salry Income, income from stocks, and Mutual fund dividends which ITR I should fill?

Vikas Gandhi answers, With the source of income provided you have to use ITR-2

Sunil asked, I'm in mumbai,From where should I download new saral ?

Vikas Gandhi answers, Saral / New Saral has been discontinued from this year. For the new returns visit www.incometaxindia.gov.in

Harish asked, I has a housing loan how much interest & principle is exempt form tax please tell me

Vikas Gandhi answers, For the housing loan taken, you can claim deduction on account of interest to the extent of Rs.1,50,000/- and as far as principal amount it will be merged with your other payments viz: LIC [Get Quote] premium, PPF, NSC etc. Deduction for this payments can be claimed to the extent of Rs.1,00,000/-

nitinkulkarni2010 asked, I work as a consultant(telecom professional) and my agency pays me salary in cheque against my invoice, does this income demand tax, and if yes, wats the limit?

Vikas Gandhi answers, Certainly this income demand tax. Any income above Rs.1,10,000/- is taxable

ash asked, Can husband and wifes income treated as HUF

Vikas Gandhi answers, No individual income of husband and wife cannot be treated as income of HUF

Hari asked, HI Vikas, I have paid Rs.17,500 as donation to charitable trust. How much money I can claim for tax excemption?

Vikas Gandhi answers, You will get deduction to the extent of 50% of the amount donated, i.e Rs.8,750/-. However if this Rs.8,.750/- is more than 10% of your total income, it will be limited to that 10%.

ShankarLal asked, Can I show "Interest on NSC" as deduction for my IT.

Vikas Gandhi answers, First you have to show Accrued interest on NSC as your income and than you can claim the same as Deduciton u/s 80C, provided the interest amount is not for the last year (6th year)

Ram asked, Hi Vikas, I was working in chennai for 6 months during April 06 - October 06 and then got transferred to Hyderabad. Where do you think i should file my tax return? IN Chennai or Hyderabad?

Vikas Gandhi answers, Since your last employer is based at Hyderabad, you have to file your income tax return at Hyderabad

aLOKE asked, Is STT amount deducted in shares transaction can be adjusted in the IT return?

Vikas Gandhi answers, No you cannot adjust the amount of STT paid in your income tax return

SreenivasuluY asked, Hi, My question is on filling up the 'house income property' in ITR-2 form. In case of self-occupied house taken on loan, the housing loan interest can be shown as negative income in 'Schedule HP' section. But when filling it up in the section 'Computation of total income', it says 'enter nil if loss' for 'Income from house property'. Does it mean that we cann't enter -ve amount as 'Income from house property' ?

Vikas Gandhi answers, Yes, Infact the negative amount or the loss amount has to be shown under Schedule CYLA

laki asked, Dear Sir, is it mandatory to file tax return thru online for this year

Vikas Gandhi answers, For individuals it is optional to file returns online. it is not mandatory

taxedman asked, i am a senir citizen and have sold my house for 13 laks, if i gift the entire money to my daughter and son will i have to pay any tax. i purchased the house in 1994 for 2.5 laks

Vikas Gandhi answers, If after indexation of the cost, if there is any profit you will certainly have to pay tax on such profit, irrespective of the fact whether you have gifted the entire money or kept the same with you.

smgohil asked, What is the penalty I have to pay if I want to file my return for the AY 2005-06 now.

Vikas Gandhi answers, If you file the income tax return for A.Y.2005-2006 now, you can be levied a penalty of Rs.5000/-

aLOKE asked, My income includes Tuton fees.Shall I have to deposit the fees in my bank account for including in my Tax return ? Which form shall I use?

Vikas Gandhi answers, It is not necessary to deposit the income in bank for the purpose of income tax return. Tuition fees income is considered as Income from Other Sources and hence you can file ITR-2.

vin asked, can i get tax benefit on education loan which is taken for my brother education. can i claim on repayment of principal or on intrest. my father can calim for same loan taken for my brother

Vikas Gandhi answers, For all your questions, the answer is No.

Tiger05 asked, First time i have to file return, what i have to take from my employer and in what formate? What items shall be enterdd in salary certificate etc.

Vikas Gandhi answers, You will need Salary Certificate in Form,No.16. it is a fixed format and hence you need not bother about the contents of the certificate.

Vikas Gandhi says, Friends, it's 5:00 p.m and time to say Good-bye. It was wonderful having chat with you and resolving your queries. Hope I could do more. Bye......

Chat with Vikas Gandhi every Thursday!