How to file income tax online in India

According to the revised income tax slab rates,any individual whose annual income is more than Rs.5 lakhs per annum should pay the income tax without fail. You don’t have to wait in long queues carrying a bunch of papers to file your Income Tax Returns (ITR)  as it can be done very easily online. Even though the employer deducts the income tax from salary for people working in public or private sector companies, they still should file the returns on their own as it is a way of informing the government that you don’t have any other source of income. You might have got NOC while studying in colleges before getting the hall ticket for your examination.It is nothing but the proof which says that you don’t have any dues to be paid. Income tax return is similar to the NOC in concept. ITR will be useful for many purposes like applying for a loan in financial institution, for immigration purposes while travelling abroad etc. Also you can get a tax rebate ( It is nothing but the excess tax deducted) only if you have an ITR.

Information you need for filing returns

Please keep a copy of the following documents as you need many of the information from these for filing returns. - PAN number - Form 16 ( Given by the employer with the summary of the income and tax deducted for the financial year) - Form 16A ( Banks or Financial Institutions will give this on the maturity of the deposit as the tax is already deducted by them) - Pay slip or Salary certificates - Copies of Investments ( LIC policies, Mutual fund bonds etc) - Copies of fees paid if any ( For your children ) - Copies of Medical Insurance premium receipts - Housing loan details - Details of income from any other source

Which ITR form to use?

This is the most important part while filing a return because a wrong selection of form will not fulfill the purpose. See the explanation for the various ITR forms below. ITR Form 1 : For Salaried Individuals ITR Form 2: For Individuals and HUF not having Income from Business or Profession ITR Form 3: For Individuals and HUF being partners in Firm but not carrying business under Proprietorship ITR Form 4: For Individuals earning Income from Proprietorship ITR Form 5: For Firms, AOP’s, BOI’s ITR Form 6 :For Companies other than companies claiming exemption under section 11 ITR Form 7 : For persons including companies required to furnish return under section 139(4A) or section 139(4B) or section 139(4C) or section 139(4D)

E-filing the returns - The process

The best way to file ITR online is through the government of India’s official website for filing the returns. Step 1: Registering in the site 1.Go to the website Income Tax India E-filing 2. If you are using the website for the first time,click the ‘Register Yourself’ button. Select User type as ‘Individual’ ( If you belong to other category,choose the one relevant for you) and click continue button.It will take you to the Basic details page where you have to enter PAN,Name,Date of Birth,Email Id and mobile number.The next page will ask you to enter the username, password,security question & answer, other contact information,present / permanent address etc. Once you submit all the required information, you will get an activation email. Follow the instructions in the mail and activate your account. Step 2 : e-filing process

There are two ways for filing the returns in India.

Method 1: 1. On the home page of the website, you can find a list of .xls files named from ITR1 to ITR7. Select the ITR form relevant to you and download it to your computer. 2. Fill all the required information. Once finished, click the ‘Generate XML’ button to generate the .xml file and save it in your PC. 3. Go to home page of the website and click the button,’Upload Return’. It will instruct you to enter the login details. 4. After logging in, choose the .xml file to be uploaded and click ‘Submit’ button. 5. A confirmation message is displayed on the screen for successfully filing the return. Method 2: This method is similar to the one above except that it is done online. Click the button ‘Quick e-file’ on the home page, log in to your account and select the relevant ITR form. The form is displayed on the screen. Fill all the details and click the submit button. A confirmation message same as the above method is displayed on the screen. Final step: If you don’t a digital signature, the ITR-V form or acknowledgment form is generated and sent to your registered email id. You can also download it from the website.To complete the filing process, take a print out of the form, sign it and send by post to “.Income Tax Department – CPC, Post Bag No – 1, Electronic City Post Office, Bangalore – 560100, Karnataka”.They will send an acknowledgement receipt to your email.