Post
by dhanubs » Wed Jun 20, 2007 5:04 pm
Hi guys,
There seems to be lot of confusion regarding this. Well, this is my opinion.
As for evidences for the "Previous earnings" category, it is actually sufficient if you can furnish only the original Form 16 as this has more information than your SARAL itself like gross salary, the allowances, the net taxable salary, the financial year and finally the tax that was deduced at source.
Also, as it is rightly specified in the HSMP Applicant guidance that, the document prepared by the employer for the purpose of return to a tax authority is also a "Tax Return" which translates to Form 16 in India. Going by this, I think Form 16 in India is equivalent to P60 in the UK and this is enough to classify as a "Tax return".
Also SARAL is no longer valid. It has been replaced with the IT acknowledgment return and as some one rightly mentioned it does not even correctly specify the period of IT return (1st April 2006 to 31st March 2007). I am not sure, if the HOME office people are aware of this new development.
Also, HSMP case worker manual and HSMP Applicant
s guidance are contradictory. Case worker manual wrongly mentions that Form 16 is a self-certified document created by the individual which is completely wrong and misplaced. Form 16, actually is a document which is generated by the employer for the purpose of filing return to a Tax authority.
My suggestion will be to send the following documents
option 1 : 12 month wage slips and original IT Acknowledgment form. (you can send the copy of Form 16 but is of no use as they don't even look at documents which are not original)
option 2: 12 month wage slips, Original Form 16 and 12-month Bank statements.
The best option is to file the income tax using a photocopy of Form 16 (mind you that filing of ITR has been made annexure-less from this year) , in which case you will be able to send the original Form 16 along with the IT acknowledgment return and wage slips.
Others please post your opinions.