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Salary Income Upto Rs. 500000/- needs to file Income Tax Return for Asstt. Year 2013-14.

Salaried persons having assessable income upto Rs. 500000/- annually will have to file Income Tax Return for Asstt. Year 2013-14, Central Board of Direct Taxes said in a statement on Monday.

Salaried employee having total taxable income upto Rs. 5 Lakhs plus interest income as other source of Income upto Rs. 10000/- annually had exempted to file Income Tax Return for Asstt. Year 2011-12 and 2012-13 by the CBDT.

"The exemption was available only for the assessment years 2011-12 and 2012-13...the exemption provided during the last two years is not being extended for assessment year 2013-14," the CBDT said in a statement.

Earlier in May, the CBDT had made E-filing of income tax return compulsory for assessment year 2013-14 for persons having total assessable income exceeding Rs. 5 lakh.

The CBDT said the exemption was given considering paper filing of returns and their processing through manual entry on system.

It said the exemption has been not been extended as the facility for online filing of returns has been made "user-friendly with the advantage of pre-filled return forms".

These e-filed forms also get electronically processed at the central processing centre in a speedy manner, it said.

"Taxpayers are encouraged to file their returns electronically. E-filing is an easy, fast and secure method of filing of income tax return. Moreover, digital signature is not mandatory for these taxpayers...," the ministry added.