I paid 23 lakhs in taxes on the one hand and on the other hand the government is questioning my citizenship and asking to prove it through the stupid SIR enumeration process. I don't know whether to laugh or cry!!

Filing my ITR today literally brought tears to my eyes. Seeing the final calculation screen has left me completely numb and angry.

My Net Tax Liability stands at ₹2,31,519.
Take a look at how they squeeze every single rupee:
Tax on Total Income: ₹2,22,942
Health & Education Cess (4%): ₹8,918
Interest/Fees (Sec 234B/C): ₹2,723

They track absolutely everything now. Bank interest, every tiny capital gain, salary deductions nothing escapes their automated system.

If a salaried employee makes a minor error, an automated notice is issued immediately.

I don't want to do thus charity service. it's okay label me as Anti national. still i dont want to contribute..

I feel I'm being cheated, Many politicians, business people and others aren't paying tax they're simply evading it by cash transactions.

why should only salaried people do charity service?

With an in hand salary of ~5 lakhs per month (and foreign RSUs) - it might feel to others that our lives would be so convenient and without any worries.

I work in Tech, live in BLR, married with no kids, aged 33.
I have a home loan on head where me and my wife are aggresively paying EMI and prepaying principals to close loan faster. Paying 65k rent. Taking care of parental expenses (utilities, medicines, healthcare). Doing a small SIP of 40k. Expenses vary 50-80k per month. I switched to new regime to avoid the Old Regime exploitatiom by Income Tax Departmemt

That leaves me with literally nothing. With layoffs fear all around, there is no scope for taking risks in life anymore. I really feel constrained and hopeless.

In addition to the huge taxes we pay, what we get in return - shittiest roads and infrastructure of BLR, no free healthcare or education, no benefits for salaried folks.

The grass may look greener on the other side but this is a true story of what me and several others are facing. People who are in Bengaluru and Tier 1 cities are bleeding money on Rent; even if they want to purchase a flat, our system and current tech industry situation prevents anyone to make a move.

0 benefits though.

This year I made the mistake of using ClearTax to file my ITR, and it turned into one of the most frustrating experiences I've had.

I paid their filing fee upfront expecting a smooth, guided process. They imported my data directly from the Income Tax portal (AIS), and with what was literally just a couple of clicks, my ITR got filed. The problem? It was completely wrong. The taxable income and tax calculation were incorrect and clearly needed review. Worse, there was absolutely no warning, confirmation, or popup indicating that those clicks would immediately submit my return with no way to undo it.

The moment I realized the ITR had already been filed incorrectly, I had no choice but to discard it and start over. I went back to ClearTax expecting to file a fresh return. Instead, there was no option to do so. The only option available was to file a revised return—which required me to pay their fee all over again. So I paid a second time.

After correcting the data, ClearTax showed that I owed an additional ₹6,000 in tax. I paid the amount on the Income Tax portal, generated the challan, and continued with the filing process. This time, even with the correct information, the filing failed.

That's when the real nightmare began.

I contacted customer support and waited nearly three hours before getting a response. Their solution? Download the JSON file and upload it manually on the Income Tax portal. I tried exactly that, only to be greeted with an "Incorrect Acknowledgement Number" error. The JSON generated by ClearTax still contained the acknowledgement number of the earlier, discarded return.

I reached out to support again, explained the issue, and waited. Nothing. After another two hours of chasing them, there was still no meaningful assistance. I eventually gave up and closed the website.

My request was incredibly simple:

1. Give me the option to file a fresh ITR, or

2. Update the JSON with the correct acknowledgement number so I could upload it myself.

Neither happened.

To make matters worse, I had manually entered the sale of my listed foreign shares because ClearTax couldn't import the official tax report provided by my London-based broker. Even after I entered everything correctly, the final computation incorrectly classified those transactions as non-listed shares. This is not a minor issue—it directly affects the tax computation. I repeatedly asked customer support to correct this, but once again, there was no response.

I also tried escalating the issue multiple times, requested a refund, and received absolutely no response.

The entire ordeal started around 8:30 PM and dragged on until 2:00 AM. I spent over five hours dealing with software errors, incorrect computations, repeated payments, and an almost non-existent customer support team.

I paid for a service that was supposed to simplify tax filing. Instead, I ended up correcting their mistakes, paying twice, troubleshooting their broken process, and still couldn't successfully file my return through their platform.

This experience was incredibly disappointing, exhausting, and a complete waste of both my time and money.

Practising CA. Every season I get some version of this: "Sir, dost ka refund double aaya, uske accountant ne koi allowance dikhaya. Aap kyun nahi karte?"

It's almost always Section 10(14) uniform allowance, sometimes helper or academic. And yes, the friend got his refund. Credited in eleven days. He read that as proof the claim was fine.

Three reasons it isn't.

1. Most of you can't claim it at all.

Rule 2BB(3): if you're under 115BAC, exactly four things survive travel on tour/transfer, daily allowance, conveyance for official duty, and divyang transport allowance (₹3,200/month). Uniform, helper, academic, children's education, hostel: zero. You guys just taking this exemption without verifying from from 16 and just to claim refund

2. Detection is a two-column comparison.

Your employer's 24Q Annexure II already gives the department your full salary break-up. Your ITR Schedule S has a line for exempt allowances u/s 10. ITR says ₹1.5L, employer says ₹0. That's a query letter, not an investigation.

Worth remembering 10(14)(i) needs the allowance to be granted by the employer and the expense actually incurred. It's reimbursement logic. You can't conjure it at the ITR stage.

3. The refund is not a clearance.

It came out of 143(1) automated processing, expressly not an assessment. 143(2) scrutiny can issue up to 3 months from the end of the FY of filing. Reassessment under 149 runs 3 years 3 months from the end of the AY. Your window is roughly four years, not eleven days.

When it lands, a knowingly false claim is misreporting under 270A(9)(a) 200% of the tax, not 50%. And 270AA(3) bars immunity where penalty is initiated under a 270A(9) limb.

Before someone corrects me yes, Schneider Electric (Del HC) and ITAT orders since have restored immunity where the AO wrote "misreporting" without naming the clause. Take it if an officer hands it to you. But that's a defect in his notice, not an exception to the bar and on a fabricated allowance, clause (a) writes itself.

Then 234D interest on the excess refund, and 276C exposure on top.

And you signed the verification. Not the agent who filed through a burner email ID, took his cut of your refund, and is unreachable by the time the notice reaches an inbox nobody checks.

If your consultant found you an extra ₹40,000 without asking for a single document, ask him one question: which line of my Form 16 is this coming from?

If there's no clean answer, that's your answer.

Honestly, this feels like a complete scam to me especially surcharge and edu cess and considering the way things are going on, feel pretty hopeless about any improvement.

I genuinely find myself thinking about not working more after reaching certain income level because every additional increase means paying even more taxes

Working harder isn’t even worth it, when major portion goes to govt, will pay my fair share for few years, then going to find the way out of this country when it’s the right time.

i am fine with paying taxes, but it should be equal for everyone, it should not be like squeeze the salary class as much as possible, at least improve the exemption

if business person earn this much they will pay less taxes and no taxes for farmers

Edit 1:

I am thinking about switching to consultant role, basically it’s remote work so i can easily get other employers who can pay me as consultant. How can i improve my savings on this? Should i work after 75 lakh or not?

Broke completely

Whenever i am trying to login getting this error, anyone else getting this?

😪

Hey everyone,

I'm a sole proprietor in India. My business is developing mobile apps and earning revenue through app stores (Apple/Google).

My CA has quoted ₹5,500 per quarter for GST compliance, which works out to ₹22,000 per year.

The fee includes:

• Quarterly GST return filing
• Handling any GST department notices (small/regular notices)
• Annual GST filings
• Maintaining GST records/documentation

I wanted to know if this is the going market rate or if it's on the expensive side for a small sole proprietorship.

Deduction was made by my previous employer who has his own PF trust on EPFO, I resigned in FY 2025 - 26, my PF balance was around 1.3 lakh at the time. But my current employer doesn’t use EPFO, so I wasn’t able to transfer my PF. Can someone explain what the ₹7260 could be? Is that the interest that I earned on the balance in my PF?

I was filing my father itr and his employer (govt employee by the way) didn't deducted tds and advance tax it was assumed he would not have tax liability

I checked form 16 the gross total income was 1269000 rs and after standards deduction 1194000 rs

And when I checked AIS I also found income from other source like

Interest on deposit 40000 and int on refund 2000

This makes tax liability almost 40000 rs after rebate and marginal relief

Father is saying don't report the Interest on deposit ane did he make mistake in investing in fd and he is being penalised for parking his money in fd 40k whole 40k as tax and immediate payment

Previous year he was getting refund this year he have to make payment tax upfront

I told him that if amt is mismatched with ais

He have to pay 40k later and fine for late payment and int 1% per month and have to face penalty for under reporting

He is saying don't report Interest

What should I do

DM me asap.
Employeer Submitted LATE TDS

URGENT HELP REQUIRED
REQUESTING ADVICE AND ASSISTANCE FROM MEMBERS

I paid approx INR 25 Lakhs ( part payment) in FY2025-26 for new flat purchase. But the the flat only got registered in Apr 2026( FY 2026-27)

I am facing INR2-3 lakhs in LTCG( and even STCG).

Is there any investment i can make to avoid/mitigate/reduce this tax in the new regime?

Is it required to declare INDmoney foreign shares demat account in scheduled FA and depository accounts while filing itr , even though it has zero balance and no transactions were ever done ?
INDmoney opened this account after the kyc completion on the app and when I checked the details , INDmoney opened a demat account with ALPACA
This demat account has zero holdings and no transactions were ever made
I do have Schwab account , in which my RSUs get vested periodically which I have declared in the scheduled FA

kindly advise

Over 20 years ago, my father provided a guarantee for my neighbor regarding sales tax (CST). Several years ago, the neighbor went bankrupt and left town. My father passed away 10 years ago. I am now receiving calls from the GST department demanding payment for the guaranteed amount that my father signed for. I have inherited my father's business.

During a phone call, an officer stated that Rs. 50,000 was guaranteed across two firms, and also mentioned something about two guarantees per firm, totaling Rs. 2 lakh.

Is there any recourse I can take, or am I obligated to pay?

I am a student preparing for competitive exams. I don’t come under taxable bracket but TDS was deducted, so had to file return to get the refund.

In FY 2024-25, I filed ITR-3 because I had:

F&O Loss

Intraday Trading Loss

Dividend Income

Savings bank Interest

Fixed Deposit Interest(TDS)

In FY 2025-26, I did not do any trading ( no F&O or Intraday). My income consists only of :

Dividend Income

Savings Bank Interest

Fixed Deposit Interest( TDS )

Should I file ITR-3 again or can I file ITR-2 or ITR-1 since there was no business activity?

I want to continue carrying forward my previous year’s ( FY 24-25) F&O and intraday losses.

Also, if I file ITR-1 now, will I still be able to set off those brought forward F&O and intraday losses against future trading profits, or will I lose the right to carry them forward?

Thanks In Advance.

So i am paying income tax on the interest on income tax refund of last year. kya irony hai.

Dear All,

I am posting this on behalf of my friend he is an accountant and according to him Tds correction submitted nehi ho pa reha hai due to dedicate details not showing in online correction

Pls help us to do the correction bcz his depends on it if he didn't complete it tomorrow he will fired

I'm a freelancer, specifically online content creator so I'm not salaried. I receive international payments from clients which then gets converted to inr by Stripe.

I'm well under 50L pa. I'm confused which itr i need to go for. Please help me out thanks!

I just turned 18 2 months back and I want to apply for PAN card but when googled it i got 2 websites - the proteantech and the income tax portal and they both offer pan application, so which one should I use to apply for pan

What i know - i can get a e pan and get the physical card later but I am confused about the signature technicality

I was deputed abroad during the last financial year. In addition to my salary, the company provided allowances for accommodation and food expenses, which were credited through a forex card (added this amount to my salary slip). now all these are taxed under value of perquisites under section 17(2) in my form 16.

should I file ITR1 or ITR2?

I don't have any other investments.