ITR Documents Checklist: What a CA Needs From You

Start by confirming the financial year and whose return is being prepared. A business owner may have personal income as well as business income. Tell your CA about both, including income that did not pass through the main bank account. Explain any change in employment, business ownership, residence or overseas connections.

• ✓Keep your PAN and basic identity details ready for verification through an agreed secure channel.
• ✓Prepare the previous return and computation, if available, along with details of unresolved tax communications.
• ✓List every income source, including salary, business receipts, interest, rent, investments and overseas income where relevant.
• ✓Gather bank statements for accounts relevant to the review, including accounts closed during the year.
• ✓Collect records of tax deducted or collected and tax payments you made.
• ✓Gather evidence for deductions, exemptions or other claims you want your CA to assess.

Form 26AS, AIS and TIS are available on the Income Tax e-filing portal. Include these in the review alongside your own records. They help identify items to check, but do not replace a complete account of your income.

Salary records explain what your employer paid and the tax deducted. They do not necessarily cover interest, rent, investment transactions or other income. If you changed jobs, collect records from each employer and tell your CA whether earlier salary details were shared with the later employer.

• ✓Form 16 from each employer, where issued, plus salary slips or a salary summary to explain gaps.
• ✓Details of bonuses, arrears, reimbursements and final settlement payments that need review.
• ✓Bank interest certificates or statements covering savings accounts and deposits.
• ✓Investment transaction statements showing purchases, sales and related costs, where relevant.
• ✓Rent agreements, rental receipt records and property loan certificates, if applicable.
• ✓Evidence supporting claims, such as eligible investment payments, insurance payments or donations, for your CA to assess.
• ✓Records of freelance work, overseas income or other receipts outside employment.

Business records should explain sales, expenses, assets, liabilities and how money moved. A bank statement alone cannot explain cash transactions, unpaid invoices or the purpose of every transfer. Confirm whether your CA is preparing the owner's return, the business entity's return, or both.

• ✓The accounting ledger, trial balance and available financial statements for the relevant year.
• ✓Sales and purchase records, invoices, credit notes and details of cash transactions.
• ✓Statements for business bank accounts, loans, payment gateways and other receipt channels.
• ✓Bank and settlement reconciliations, with explanations for unresolved differences.
• ✓Customer and supplier balances, including advances, unpaid invoices and disputed amounts.
• ✓Stock records where relevant, plus records of assets purchased, sold or used in the business.
• ✓Expense evidence and a clear separation of personal spending from business spending.
• ✓Payroll, vendor tax deduction records, tax payment records and relevant prior filings.
• ✓Details of owner contributions, drawings, borrowings and transfers between personal and business accounts.

Label draft records clearly. If bookkeeping is incomplete, identify the missing period and transaction types. Do not describe a ledger as final while entries remain unposted. Your CA needs to know which balances are supported and which still need investigation.

1. 01

   Create a record index

   Group records by income source and document type. Use clear filenames showing the period covered. Keep separate folders for personal and business records, while noting transfers between them.

2. 02

   Check completeness

   Check that statements cover the full period and that downloaded files open correctly. Identify missing employer records, accounts, transaction reports or supporting documents before sending the pack.

3. 03

   List differences

   Compare your records with Form 26AS, AIS and TIS. Note missing, unfamiliar or apparently repeated entries. Record the source and your explanation; ask your CA what needs correction or further evidence.

4. 04

   Agree a secure handoff

   Use the document-sharing method agreed with your CA. Confirm the recipient and access permissions. Keep passwords and OTPs private, and retain a copy of the records and questions you shared.

• Sending only Form 16 and overlooking income outside employment.
• Assuming every bank credit is income, without explaining loans, transfers, refunds or owner contributions.
• Treating an investment sale receipt as the gain, without providing purchase and transaction records.
• Mixing financial years or sending overlapping statements without identifying duplicates.
• Changing the books merely to make them agree with a portal entry that has not been investigated.
• Sending screenshots when complete statements or reports are available.
• Leaving out uncertain items because you expect the CA to discover them.

Keep a short questions list beside the documents. Describe what happened, what evidence exists and what remains unknown. An honest gap is easier to resolve than an unexplained estimate presented as a confirmed figure.

Tell your CA promptly and request a replacement from the employer, bank or other issuer. Explain whether an alternative record is available. Your CA can assess whether it supports the item or whether further evidence is needed. Do not invent a figure to complete the checklist.

Before the return is finalised, review the income summary, unresolved questions and proposed claims with your CA. Confirm that all income sources you disclosed were considered. Keep the final working records and agreed explanations together for future reference.