E-filing of Income Tax Returns
It is time of the year, where many of you may be rushing to your Chartered Accountant's (CA's) office will all the requisite documents to file your Income-Tax (I-T) returns. However, this year your job doesn't end with mere gathering of all documents and handing them over to your CA or tax consultant. You see, the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has widened the scope of e-filing of I-T returns (vide a notification), thereby making it compulsory for all individuals with a taxable income of over Rs 5 lakh during the financial year 2012-13 to file their I-T returns online. It is noteworthy prior to this, e-filing of I-T returns was mandatory for individuals having a taxable income of more than Rs 10 lakh.
So let us look what is the process of filing I-T returns online, assuming you are a salaried individual having no other income and therefore no additional taxes.
First, all you got to do is log on to the website: www.incometaxindiaefiling.gov.in and register yourself using your Permanent Account Number (PAN), which will serve as your user id.
Second, download the form applicable to you; which in case of salaried individuals is "ITR1" (Sahaj). But this year, for those who are eligible for tax exemption over Rs 5,000, i.e. whose allowance such as leave travel allowance, house rent allowance, conveyance allowance, amongst others, exceed collectively Rs 5,000, they will have to opt for form "ITR2".
Third, once you have downloaded the ITR form applicable to you, all one needs to do is fill on the details in the fields of excel sheet(s). Your Form 16 (which is the TDS certificate issued by your employer) can come in handy while filling the details herein.
Fourth, after having filled in the details as required, one needs to click the validate key and once you have done that, an XML will be generated which needs to be saved on your computer.
Fifth, the aforesaid XML file generated and saved onto your computer along with the respective ITR, then needs to be uploaded on the website: www.incometaxindiaefiling.gov.in after having selected the relevant assessment year for which you are filing the returns for. You see, a digital signature of yours will be asked for, and if you have obtained one you can select yes, or proceed ahead by clicking no. You see, it is not mandatory for salaried individuals to have a digital signature for e-filing of returns.
Sixth,ifyou have complied with all the mandatory requirements then the website would flash a message indicating the success and a mail would be sent to your registered email id with the ITR verification form.
Seventh, after having received the above all one needs to do is file take a print-out of the ITR verification form, sign it and send via post (even ordinary post would do) within 120 days from the date of e-filing of returns to the following address:
Tax Department-CPC,
Post Bag No-1, Electronic City Post Office,
Bangalore - 560 100, Karnataka
Eight, after having followed the aforementioned process correctly, you can expect an acknowledgement from the I-T department, and if you don't get one follow-up and / or send your form again.
The e-filing of returns has made filing of tax returns less cumbersome for everyone. Yes, there are technicalities involved which may be difficult for non-finance individuals to understand, but one can always take help of CAs or tax consultants to e-file returns. You see, not filing your tax returns on time has perils involved and hence you should always file your tax returns on time. Also it is noteworthy that e-filing of tax return also helps in obtaining tax refunds (if any) putting many tax payers at an advantage. So go ahead and file your tax returns smartly.
Best Regards
Prakash Nair
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