Xiaomi India's boss and Global Vice President Manu Kumar Jain on Monday announced that the Chinese phone manufacturer is integrating the ability to file Income Tax Returns (ITR) right from its native Mi Calendar app on its range of smartphones running MIUI. The service is powered by ClearTax, an online portal that helps individuals and businesses prepare and e-file their income tax return online. The shortcut of e-filing the IT return can be accessed by going into the Mi Calendar app and browsing over to July 31, which is the deadline for filing returns for the fiscal year 2018-19.
Clicking on July 31 in the app will reveal link text that states "Last day to file ITR". Opening this link will take you to a page with multiple tabs that will help prospective income tax payers understand the process better with things like a blog post, a guide to file returns without help, and assistance in employing a CA to do it for you. Apart from IT returns, ClearTax also offers miscellaneous advice such as the benefits of filing an ITR, how to file one with Form 16, and assistance on starting a tax saving SIP (Systematic Investment Plan).
As per the new rules by the Indian government, a penalty of up to Rs. 5,000 is applicable on missing the July 31 deadline for filing the return. This seems like a neat integration at the right moment; when most individuals will be looking to finish up their tax duties for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2018. Notably, the feature will not be natively available on the Xiaomi Mi A1 as it runs a stock, Android One-based version of Android instead of Xiaomi's custom MIUI, and thus does not have the Mi Calendar app preinstalled.
Separately, the Xiaomi Mi A2, alongside the Mi A2 Lite will witness an unveiling on Tuesday at a global launch event scheduled to take place in Madrid, Spain. This is expected to be the Android One-based variant of the Mi 6X. Indian launch date and pricing details are currently not known.
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