Posts Tagged ‘Verification Purposes’

The how and why of Income Tax Return

November 25th, 2010

Income Tax Return is the legal obligation for every individual whose annual earnings for the previous year are more than the maximum limit of exemption for the payment of Income Tax in their respective category. The whole issue come under the provisions of the Income Tax Act 1961. ITR is filed when the particular entity has earnings have exceeded the levels mentioned in the Income Tax slabs according to the Income Tax Department.

Earlier, filing ITR was used to be a very complicated process and used to took days for the entire process to execute in a smooth manner. It also required a host of documents and certificates for verification purposes making it a very confusing and tedious process. But now with the introduction of online process of filing tax returns, submission of IT forms has become faster and more efficient. It saves the time of the claimant and the filing process becomes much easier for the Income Tax Department to handle. The amount of paperwork involved also has reduced drastically.

Income Tax Return has to be filed through a different Income Tax Form for every entity which is not confusing at all thanks to the persistent efforts of the Government to simplify the tax submission process. There are in total eight forms for the submission of Income Tax. Every type of entity has to file the Income Tax Return through a different Income Tax Return form(s).

Following is the list of forms explained in the simplest manner to clear all the doubts in the minds of people who are due to file returns but are yet to identify the correct form to do so -

ITR-1 is for Individuals having Income from Salary/ Pension/ family pension & Interest

ITR-2 is for Individuals and Hindu Undivided Family (HUF) not having Income from Business or Profession

ITR-3 is for Individuals/HUFs being partners in firms and not carrying out business or profession under any proprietorship

ITR-4 is for individuals & HUFs having income from a proprietary business or profession

ITR-5 is for firms, Association of People (AOP) and BOIs

ITR-6 is for Companies other than companies claiming exemption under section 11

ITR-7 is for persons including companies required to furnish return under section 139(4A) or section 139(4B) or section 139(4C) or section 139(4D)

ITR-8 is for the Return for Fringe Benefits

There has been a new form introduced called the ITR V through which all the data of the Return of Income/Fringe Benefits in Form ITR-1, ITR-2, ITR-3, ITR-4, ITR-5, ITR-6 & ITR-8 transmitted electronically without digital signature. This form was specially introduced to cater to the needs of the filers who intend to use the online submission process.

The whole proces of Income Tax Return filing can now be performed online. The amount of Income tax can be calculated with the help on Income Tax Calculator and then the submission made online through the Income Tax Return forms online. The task of filing returns has now been made considerably easier and less time-consuming which is why people are all gung-ho about it.

Credit Card Processing Security Concerns

July 17th, 2010



As an online merchant accepting credit card payments, you have numerous security issues that you must be aware of for the safety of your business and your consumers. At this time, there are two main aspects of credit card security for credit card processing, including “AVS” and “CVV”. Both allow credit card transactions to be completed anonymously over the internet, and any merchant accepting credit cards online should require both forms of information of your customers.

Address Verification Service

The “AVS”, or address verification service, is used to determine that the address provided by a customer matches the address associated with a credit card account. This helps generate confidence that the person who is entering the credit card details is the person who owns it. While the AVS is not required to process credit card transactions, when it is provided the transaction processor will send a response back with details of how much of the address provided matches the address on the credit card.

A credit card will not be denied if the address is entered wrong, it is up to the merchant to decide what to do if the address only matches partially or not at all. You can deny the sale, or require the buyer submit additional information, or give them the opportunity to correct the address information, before processing the transaction.

Card Verification Value

The “CVV”, or card verification value, sometimes referred to as the CVV-2 is a three to four digit number found on the back of American Express, MasterCard and Visa cards. It’s on the card but not on any statements, so that if an individual has found a credit card statement in the trash, they aren’t able to complete a sale that requires the CVV code for verification purposes. When a customer is able to enter the CVV code, it’s a strong indication that the customer has the credit card in hand, which increases the potential of the card belonging to the person who is attempting to use it to make a purchase online.

Most credit card fraud online occurs when a thief has found a discarded receipt or a thrown out credit card statement, but by requiring the CVV code, the merchant can eliminate that type of fraud.

If a CVV number is entered and is incorrect, the transaction will be declined by the credit card issuer.

Providing Consumers with Top Security

If you are going to accept credit cards online for payment for products or services offered through your website, it’s imperative that you provide your customers with a guarantee that you’re protecting their credit card information.

Credit card processing typically requires that the customer’s information is transferred about four times, which means there are four instances when someone could gain access to the cardholder’s details.
When a customer first sends the credit card information to you via your checkout or web based form. You are solely responsible for security as the internet merchant, at this stage in the credit card transaction process. Having a secure server and a valid security certificate with the https protocol will protect and encrypt private information you receive from customers.

You will want to be sure that the credit card transaction processing software you use for your business is secure by using a reputable processing company.
As customer information is moved in and out of a database through the transaction process, the security must be top of the line- and this is ensured by choosing a solid company that offers encrypted software for this part of the process.

Finally, when customer credit card information is viewed or handled by you or your staff, it’s important that you ensure security at this stage as well.