An easy-to-follow method to completing your income tax returns.
It is simple to file your income tax returns using the government’s e-filing system. Check that you have all of your documentation available.
The deadline for filing income tax returns for fiscal year 2019-20 is less than a month away. You should have a good idea of which income-tax return (ITR) form to use by now. You can either file your taxes using the income tax department’s official e-filing portal or one of the several private websites that have sprung up over the years.
While private portals have a more user-friendly design, the I-T department’s exclusive e-filing process is not as time-consuming as it is portrayed.
Here’s a step-by-step instruction and some pointers for completing the process using the official website.
Get your paperwork in order
This is a simple yet critical step that will ensure a pleasant experience. Get all of your financial paperwork in order, including Form-16, Form 26AS (tax credit statement), bank interest certificates, capital gain statements, and housing loan interest certificates. Aside from this, you may need to make some further disclosures.
Get started by registering on the e-filing portal.
It is now time to begin the real tax return filing process. If you are a first-time filer, go to the official e-filing portal and register if you haven’t already. Your PAN will serve as your username. “Next, accurately assess your residential status, as taxability may differ depending on your residential status (resident/resident (but) not ordinarily resident/non-resident).
After registering and logging in, you must select the assessment year (the year in which you will file your tax returns; 2020-21) and the appropriate Income-Tax return form.
Select the appropriate mode and enter the desired information
The simplest form, ITR-1, can be filled and filed entirely online using the e-filing portal. It can be found under the ‘e-file’ tab. Go to Form ITR-1, Income Tax Return for the Assessment Year 2020-21.
In submission mode, select ‘Prepare and Submit Online.’
When you utilise ITR 1 online, everything of your information (for example, income and tax deducted) is pre-populated. Furthermore, if any tax is due, it will auto-fill the tax challan. This assists taxpayers in avoiding errors and completing the process as quickly as possible. However, it is advisable to double-check the details, Sankla says. Examine your Form 16 to confirm that all of your tax benefits, including house rent allowance, leave travel allowance, tax-saving investment under Section 80C, and housing loan interest, are correct. Since the fiscal year 2019-20, the government has included a function that pre-fills tax return forms. Taxpayers should, however, double-check that the pre-filled information matches that on other supporting documents, such as Forms 16 and 26 AS. However, if you are qualified for a refund, be sure that the bank account number you enter in the form is valid so that you receive your refund without any problems.
Alternatively, you can pick the offline mode, download the Excel or Java tool, enter all of the required information, click compute tax, pay self-assessment tax, if applicable, validate, build an XML file, and upload it using the ‘Submit’ page. Your ITR-V (verification) or acknowledgement form will be emailed to you.
After you’ve filed your income tax returns, double-check them.
A significant portion of your tax return filing procedure is now complete. However, it will not be regarded complete unless you verify the returns – something that many people overlook. Remember that you must authenticate your returns within 120 days of filing them online. Again, you have the option of doing so in both physical and electronic mode. The latter is the traditional approach, which entails downloading, printing, and signing the hard copy before mailing it to the Income Tax CPC in Bengaluru. E-verification, on the other hand, is a more efficient option. To finish the process, you can utilise Aadhaar-OTP, your internet banking account, a pre-validated bank account, or a demat account to create an electronic verification code (EVC).
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