New Delhi, July 10 -- Taxpayers across the country are increasingly filing incorrect and incomplete ITR forms, this has resulted in triggering 'defective return' notices under Section 139(9) of the Income Tax Act over recent years. Such mistakes impact numerous taxpayers while submitting their tax returns due to evolving ITR formats and stricter data validation.

Submission of ITR 1 when one has capital gains from equities, foreign assets or professional income clearly results in the return becoming invalid. In such cases the department generally issues a 15 day notice to improve and rectify the submission. If remedial steps are not taken upon receiving of the notice then the entire return might be treated as not filed at all, leading to ...