Are you still taking a Tax Filing expert’s help for your Income Tax Returns? With the introduction of the online E-filing facility by the Income Tax Department in India, it has become easy for any individual to file their Income Tax Return online. Also, the auto-population of data from various statutory forms has reduced the burden and made filing taxes almost a cakewalk!
Are you aware of these changes to file your Income Tax Return within just a few clicks, absolutely free? Whether a new taxpayer or a seasoned one, this article will shed light on the E-filing process to take care of filing taxes.
Essentials Before Filing Taxes
Before proceeding with the E-filing, you must know some essential things about filing taxes online.
- The Previous Year is the year for which the ITR is filed.
- The Assessment Year is the year in which the ITR is filed. For Ex: If the P.Y. is 2021-22, the A.Y. will be 2022-23.
- The last date for filing the ITR for Individuals is 31st July of every year.
- The following ITR forms are applicable for individuals:
- ITR-1 Sahaj for Salaried Individuals.
- ITR-2 for Salary & Speculative Income.
- ITR-3 for Business Income individuals.
- ITR-4 for individuals with Presumptive Business Income.
The following essential documents help file your Income Tax Return.
- PAN Card.
- Aadhaar Card linked to PAN Card.
- Form 16 issued by Employer.
- Month-wise Salary Slips.
- Bank Statement.
- Interest & TDS Certificate for FDs.
- Form 26AS.
- Investments U/s 80C.
- Deductions like Home Loan Repayment, Rent Slips, etc.
- Any other important documents linked to your income & investments.
Register on the Income Tax Website
Following is the process of registering yourself as a taxpayer.
Step-1: Prerequisites to register on the Income Tax website
- Active PAN Card.
- Mobile Number.
- Email ID.
Step-2: To register, visit the Income Tax website – https://www.incometax.gov.in/iec/foportal
Step-3: Select the Register option on the homepage as highlighted in this image.
Step-4: Enter the details of your PAN Card and click on Validate.
Step-5: If already registered, it displays an error message. If not, the next page opens.
Step-6: Enter your basic details, including, Name, DOB, Gender and Residential Status.
Step-7: Enter your Contact Details, including the Primary Contact Number, Email ID and Residential & Current Address. Click on “Continue”.
Step-8: Enter the OTPs sent to both the Mobile Number & Email ID. The OTP is valid for 3 attempts up to 15 minutes. You can click on the “Resend OTP” option if the OTP expires.
Step-9: Edit the details if necessary, and Confirm.
Step-10: Enter a strong password of your choice and Confirm. Password should have —
- 8-14 characters.
- Both uppercase & lowercase alphabets.
- A number/digit.
- A special character.
The process of registration is complete here.
Step-wise E-filing
Once you have registered as a Taxpayer, you can log in to the Income Tax website to File Taxes. Following are the steps to filing ITR-1.
Step-1: Login to the Income Tax Portal for e-filing using the User ID, i.e., your PAN Card and the password you set during registration.
Step-2: After entering the ITR Dashboard, select the following path.
- E-File > Income Tax Return > File Income Tax Return
Step-3: Select the Assessment Year, i.e., the year you file the taxes. For ex: If you are filing the ITR in the year 2022-23, then the P.Y. is 2021-22 & the A.Y. is 2022-23.
Step-4: Select the mode of filing ITR as Online and click the Proceed button.
Step-5: Select the status applicable to you as “Individual” and click on the Continue button.
Step-6: If you are unsure which ITR applies to you, you can use the Help option shown in the image below.
Step-7: Select the ITR form that you want to file. In this case, ITR-1 & click on the Proceed button.
Step-8: Check the list of documents required to file your ITR and click on “Let’s Get Started”.
Step-9: Select the appropriate options in the checkboxes as shown in the below image.
Step-10: The ITR forms get all the information pre-filled from your PAN & Aadhaar Card. You can review this pre-filled information to confirm details and verify.
Step-11: There are 5 Sections of ITR-1. Check each section’s details and verify them. Make any corrections if necessary. The following image shows the 5 sections of the ITR-1 Form.
Step-12: Check the first section of Personal Information as shown in the following images.
Step-13: After verifying your Personal Information, check the section of Gross Total Income, which consists of all your incomes from various heads, as shown in the below images.
Step-14: Check all the Deductions applicable to you in the Total Deductions section. Following are the images of this form.
Step-15: Verify the details of the taxes paid by you as per Form 26AS. Refer to the following image to know what this section of the ITR looks like.
Step-16: Check the Computation of Taxable Income and the Tax Liability under the next section. See the following images to understand the Computation of Taxable Income.
Step-17: After verifying all the details in the above sections, click on Confirm.
Step: 18 Now, validate the return by confirming that the details in the ITR form are correct. Click on Proceed.
Step-19: The following pages will be displayed if you need to pay additional taxes or are eligible for a refund.
Step-20: Validate the return by clicking on “Proceed to Validation”.
Step-21: Next, click “Proceed to Verification” and select the “E-Verify” option. Click Continue to E-verify your ITR-1 form.
Note: You can e-verify your ITR within 120 days of filing through the help of Aadhaar OTP. You have to select the option and enter the OTP sent on your Mobile Number and Email to E-verify your ITR.
Step-22: You will receive a message notifying you of a successfully filed and e-verified ITR.
If you accidentally Log Out while filing your returns, you can continue from where you had left earlier by selecting “Resume Filing”. If you want to discard the old data, select “Start New Filing”.
With the revolution in technology, you can easily file taxes online without assistance. This article has covered all the steps of filing ITR-1 in great detail. These steps will help you start filing your ITR in just a few clicks. To learn more about finance and taxes, Join Seekho Select Membership today!
Read more blogs here –
