1 Have your PAN handy — PAN has to be quoted in your income tax return. Also, the date of birth and father's name quoted in the income tax return should be same as that mentioned in the PAN card.

2 Make sure you have aadhaar card — From 1 July, 2017 quoting of aadhaar number or aadhaar enrollment number has become mandatory. If you do not have one, make sure you apply for aadhaar card before filing your returns.

3 Get Form 16 from your employer — Form 16 is an important document. It contains most of the information required to file income tax returns. Usually, an employer provides this to the employee by 31 May of every year. If you have worked with more than one employer during the financial year you must collect Form 16 from both the employers. Some websites like ClearTax allow you to upload your Form 16 and automatically populate your return from it.

4 Use Form 26AS — Form 26AS contains details of all the TDS linked to your PAN. The details of TDS deducted on your income from fixed deposit, rent (if TDS deducted), commission income, and salary can be traced here. You can adjust this TDS from your total tax liability, since this is tax already deducted from your income. Do remember to include in your tax return, details of corresponding income on which TDS is deducted. If you claim TDS and do not include related income, you may receive a tax notice.

5 Collect details of your assets if your income exceeds ?50 lakh — If your income after all deductions exceeds ?50 lakh you have to provide additional details in your income tax return. Value of immovable asset, movable asset, cash in hand, jewellery and liabilities (if any) have to be declared in the income tax return. These details are required to be declared in Schedule AL which is in the income tax return.

6 Download bank statements — Bank statements are required for two things. Bank account details are mandatorily required to be mentioned in your income tax return. Any dormant bank accounts are not required to be reported in the income tax return. Also, you need to include in the income tax return, all the savings bank interest credited to your account between 1 April to 31 March. Savings bank interest up to ?10,000 is exempt from tax as per section 80TTA.

7 Gather proof of investments — If you have not declared investments to your employer or for some reason were not able to provide proofs of your investments to your employer, the deductions will not appear in your Form 16. For any eligible investments made before 31st March of the year, a deduction can be claimed and your total income will be reduced to that extent. So, if you have made the required expenses or made investments, you can include them at the time of filing your tax return. No proofs are required to be submitted to the tax department, but you must keep them safely in your records.