Contents (18 chapters)
18. Forms, Schemes and Official Links
Every portal, form and scheme referenced in this document, with the official source for each. Verified August 2026.
Use official portals only. Every service listed here is free or fixed-fee at the source. Intermediaries charging to "activate your UAN", "file your EPF claim" or "improve your CIBIL score" are selling you something you can do yourself in minutes. Government URLs occasionally move; if a link fails, search for the institution's name plus
gov.inrather than clicking a sponsored result.
18.1 Income tax
| What | Where |
|---|---|
| File your return, view AIS/TIS, e-verify, link PAN–Aadhaar, respond to notices | incometax.gov.in, the e-filing portal |
| Acts, rules, circulars, notifications, the Income-tax Act 2025 text | incometaxindia.gov.in |
| Form 168 (formerly 26AS): consolidated tax statement | Via the e-filing portal, or TRACES |
| Annual Information Statement (AIS) and Taxpayer Information Summary (TIS) | e-filing portal → Services → AIS |
| Apply for or correct PAN | Protean (NSDL) TIN or UTIITSL |
| Pay advance tax / self-assessment tax | e-filing portal → e-Pay Tax |
| Check refund status | e-filing portal → Services → Know Your Refund Status |
Tax forms you will actually encounter
| Form | Formerly | What it is | Who gives it to you |
|---|---|---|---|
| Form 130 | Form 16 | Salary TDS certificate | Employer, by ~June |
| Form 131 | Form 16A | TDS certificate, non-salary | Bank / payer |
| Form 124 | Form 12BB | Investment & rent declaration to your employer | You → employer, Jan–Feb |
| Form 168 | Form 26AS | Consolidated tax statement | e-filing portal / TRACES |
| Form 121 | Forms 15G / 15H | Declaration for non-deduction of TDS | You → bank or EPFO |
| Form 67 | n/a | Claim foreign tax credit | You, before filing |
| Form 10-IEA (successor form) | n/a | Opt out of the new regime (business income only) | You, before filing |
| ITR-1 / ITR-2 / ITR-3 | n/a | Return forms. RSU or foreign-share holders need ITR-2 or ITR-3, never ITR-1 | e-filing portal |
| Schedule FA | n/a | Foreign assets disclosure, no minimum value | Inside ITR-2 / ITR-3 |
| Schedule VDA | n/a | Crypto and other Virtual Digital Assets | Inside your ITR |
Deadlines: ITR-1 and ITR-2 by 31 July; ITR-3 and ITR-4 by 31 August; revised return by 31 March. See §17.13.
18.2 EPF, EPS and gratuity
| What | Where |
|---|---|
| Member portal: activate UAN, seed KYC, file claims, e-nomination, transfer | unifiedportal-mem.epfindia.gov.in |
| Passbook: see employee share, employer share, EPS and interest | passbook.epfindia.gov.in |
| EPFO main site, circulars, downloadable forms | epfindia.gov.in |
| File a grievance | epfigms.gov.in |
| UMANG app | EPFO services on mobile, including passbook and claim status |
EPF forms
| Form | What it does | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Form 11 | Declaration on joining a new employer | Records prior membership, UAN, KYC, "excluded employee" status. It does not increase your contribution; see §7.5 |
| Para 26(6) joint declaration | Contribute on wages above the ₹15,000 ceiling | Signed by both you and your employer, filed with the EPFO office, with Form 11 and a salary slip. Employer consent is required |
| Form 2 / e-nomination | Nominate for EPF, EPS and EDLI | Do this online via the member portal |
| Form 13 | Transfer PF from a previous employer | Largely automatic now where UAN and KYC are correct |
| Form 19 | Final settlement of EPF | On retirement, or after two months of unemployment |
| Form 10C | Withdraw EPS corpus | Where eligible service is under 10 years |
| Form 10D | Claim monthly EPS pension | At 58, or early from 50 at a reduced rate |
| Form 31 | Partial advance from EPF | Housing, marriage, education, medical, etc. See §7.8 |
| Form 121 | Avoid TDS on an early withdrawal | Only if total income is below the taxable limit |
Gratuity is claimed from your employer, not from EPFO, using Form I under the Payment of Gratuity Act, 1972, within 30 days of it becoming payable.
18.3 NPS
| What | Where |
|---|---|
| Open an account, contribute, view your PRAN | eNPS (Protean) or eNPS KFintech |
| Scheme returns, fund manager performance, NAVs | NPS Trust |
| Regulator: regulations, circulars, exit rules | PFRDA |
| CRA login: change fund manager, allocation, nomination | Protean CRA or your CRA's portal |
Key NPS actions: change your investment choice (Active/Auto) and fund manager through the CRA portal; file a nomination on the PRAN; and note that Tier I money is locked until 60 with narrow exceptions. See §8.5.
18.4 Small savings: PPF, SSY, NSC, SCSS
| What | Where |
|---|---|
| Open and operate PPF, SSY, NSC, SCSS, POMIS, KVP | India Post, or a designated branch of most public-sector and several private banks |
| Scheme rules, forms, current rates | National Savings Institute |
| Quarterly rate notifications | Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance |
Forms: Form A to open an account, Form B to deposit, Form C to withdraw, Form D for a loan, Form H to extend a PPF account beyond 15 years. Most banks now support PPF and SSY entirely through net banking.
Timing note: PPF interest is computed on the lowest balance between the 5th and the last day of each month. Deposit by the 5th.
18.5 Insurance
| What | Where |
|---|---|
| Regulator: regulations, master circulars, insurer lists | IRDAI |
| File a complaint against an insurer | Bima Bharosa |
| Insurance Ombudsman: escalation after the insurer fails to resolve | cioins.co.in |
| Check whether an agent or broker is registered | IRDAI portal → intermediary registers |
| Claim settlement ratios | Published in the IRDAI Annual Report |
Before buying: confirm the room-rent limit, co-pay, sub-limits, PED waiting period and restoration terms; these determine whether a policy pays. See §9.5.
Escalation path: insurer's grievance officer → Bima Bharosa → Insurance Ombudsman. Each stage has a defined response window.
18.6 Investing and securities
| What | Where |
|---|---|
| Regulator: regulations, circulars, orders | SEBI |
| Verify a Registered Investment Adviser, broker or research analyst | SEBI portal → Intermediaries registers |
| File a securities complaint | SEBI SCORES |
| Online dispute resolution | SMART ODR |
| Mutual fund industry data, NAVs, scheme categorisation | AMFI |
| Consolidated view of all your mutual funds, update KYC, nominations | MF Central |
| Demat holdings and statements | NSDL or CDSL |
| Buy government securities and T-bills directly, no intermediary | RBI Retail Direct |
| Market data, index factsheets, TRI values | NSE and BSE |
Buy direct plans from the AMC's own site, MF Central, or a platform that does not embed distributor commission: roughly 0.65% a year cheaper for equity funds. See §12.4.
18.7 Banking, credit and credit bureaus
| What | Where |
|---|---|
| Regulator: circulars, master directions, rates | RBI |
| Complain about a bank, NBFC or card issuer (RBI Ombudsman) | RBI CMS |
| Check whether an entity is authorised to take deposits or lend | RBI Sachet |
| Deposit insurance: what is covered, and claims | DICGC |
The four credit bureaus
You are entitled to one free full credit report per bureau per calendar year. Four bureaus means four free reports.
| Bureau | Where |
|---|---|
| TransUnion CIBIL | cibil.com |
| Experian India | experian.in |
| Equifax India | equifax.co.in |
| CRIF High Mark | crifhighmark.com |
Dispute errors with both the bureau and the lender that reported the entry. Closed loans still showing open, and accounts that are not yours, are the two most common defects.
Escalation for a bank or card dispute: bank's nodal grievance officer → 30 days → RBI Ombudsman via CMS.
18.8 Employment and labour
| What | Where |
|---|---|
| Labour Codes, rules, notifications | Ministry of Labour & Employment |
| Establishment compliance and registrations | Shram Suvidha |
| Company filings: check an employer's financials and shareholding | MCA |
MCA is genuinely useful when evaluating a startup offer: annual returns and financial statements filed by a private company are public, and they tell you more about runway than a recruiter will.
18.9 Property
| What | Where |
|---|---|
| RERA: verify a project and developer before buying | Each state runs its own RERA portal; find yours via rera.gov.in |
| Stamp duty, registration, encumbrance certificates | State registration department portals; these are state-specific |
| Property tax | Municipal corporation portal for your city |
| TDS on property purchase above ₹50 lakh | Form 26QB, via the e-filing portal |
Before any purchase: check the RERA registration number, the encumbrance certificate, the approved plan, and the occupancy certificate. GST is nil on ready-to-move property with an occupancy certificate, and 5% without one; see §15.2.
18.10 Consumer protection
| What | Where |
|---|---|
| National Consumer Helpline | consumerhelpline.gov.in (1915) |
| Cyber fraud, including financial fraud | cybercrime.gov.in (1930) |
If money leaves your account fraudulently, report it immediately. RBI's limited-liability framework reduces or eliminates a customer's liability for unauthorised electronic transactions where the incident is reported promptly; the customer's exposure rises the longer the delay.
18.11 Things worth doing once
Each of these takes minutes, costs nothing, and is routinely left undone for years.
- Activate your UAN and seed Aadhaar, PAN and bank account: member portal
- File EPF e-nomination: covers EPF, EPS and EDLI in one submission
- Check your EPF passbook and confirm whether your employer contributes on full Basic or on the ₹15,000 ceiling
- Confirm old PF has transferred rather than sitting dormant under a previous Member ID
- Nominate on every bank account, deposit, demat account, mutual fund folio, insurance policy, PPF account and NPS PRAN
- Pull all four credit reports and dispute any errors
- Link PAN and Aadhaar, and check your AIS against your own records
- Verify your advisor's SEBI registration if you use one, and establish who pays them
- Ask HR whether the company offers employer NPS under Section 124(2); it is the only significant deduction left in the new regime
- Find the room-rent limit on your employer's group health policy
- Write a will: a nominee is a trustee, not an heir
18.12 Where each number in this document came from
The complete source list, with links to every reference used, is in §17.17. The items still in flux as of August 2026 (the EPF wage ceiling revision, EPS-95 higher pension, the NPS 80% withdrawal mismatch, and the HRA metro-city expansion) are listed in §17.15.