Income Tax Return

Filing Income Tax return is a method of informing the net taxable income, one is earning from various sources for claiming deductions and net tax liability declaration to the Income Tax Authority. ITR is being filed under the supervision of the Income Tax Department by a salaried or self-employed individual, Hindu undivided family, companies or firms. It can be done by visiting on the e-portal of the Income Tax Department. The process of filing ITR online is referred to as E-filing.

Process to file Income Tax Return online

1. Go to E-filing Website

2. If you are new to E-filing, registration needs to be done on the E-Portal.

3. If you are already registered, login to your income tax account by providing your User ID (your PAN), Password and Captcha.

4. Select appropriate assessment year, ITR form name as ITR-1 or ITR-4 as per the applicability and submission mode as “Prepare and Submit Online”

5. If you had filed online ITR before, you can select details which will be automatically prefilled to the selected ITR form. Select those details which you want to be prefilled and click on “Continue”.

6. After filling the above required details, you will be redirected to a page where you must fill the ITR form. One must read all the general instructions given in the start of the form to avoid any mistakes.

7. After reading instructions, start filling ITR form which includes filling of required information such as 'General Information', 'Income Tax Details', 'Tax paid and Verification' and '80 G' in the ITR form.

8. Recheck all the information in the form before making final submission. After getting satisfaction that all details provided in the form is correct, then click 'Preview and Submit 'button. You can preview form before making final submission.

9. After form submission, ITR will be uploaded and option will be given to verify the return using options available:

10. You can verify your return electronically by using Aadhaar OTP or Electronic Verification Code (EVC) method or through an offline method by sending a signed printout of the ITR 5 to CPC, Bengaluru within 120 days from the date of e-filing.

11. Once your return is successfully uploaded, an Acknowledgement or ITR V will be simultaneously sent on your registered email address.

Note: The acknowledgement will also reflect in your account on the e-filing website from where you can download it as and when required.

12. After ITR verification, Income Tax department will start processing and notifies the same via email and sends SMS on your registered mobile number.

13. It is not necessary that an individual can only file for an income tax return from the authorized site of the Government of India but there are also many private sectors that permit filing income tax returns.

14. The private sectors in return of the service rendered charge a fee from the individual. The amount of fee charged varies from firm to firm.

Who is required to file ITR?

Under Section 139(1) of the Income Tax Act 1961, any individual whose total income of the Financial year is more than 2.5 Lakh for Financial year 2020-21 need to file Income Tax return. Apart from that any public or private company based in India or doing business in India, Firms, Association of Persons (AOP), Hindu Undivided Family (HUFs), Body of Individual (BOI) etc. are also liable to declare net profits/losses of the year and pay their tax liability by filing ITR.

• A person with an age lesser than 60 years has an annual income greater than Rs.2.5 lakh.
• A person with an age between 60 years and 80 years and has an annual income of Rs. 3 lakh or more.
• A person who is above the age of 80 years and has an annual income of more than Rs. 10 lakhs.
• A company or an organization is bound to file for an income tax return no matter if the company is in loss or profit.
• If there is a loss that you want to carry forward under the head of income.
• If a resident Indian has an asset or any financial interest in an entity situated outside the geographic territory of the country.

Is it mandatory to file ITR online?

Taxpayers belonging to any of the following class are mandatorily required to file their income tax return only through e-filing mode:

• If the total income of HUFs and Individual exceeds 5 Lakh or want to claim a refund is mandated to file ITR electronically.
• There is an option to file ITR manually and electronically who are above the age of 80 years. They come under the category of ITR 1 and ITR 2.
• Every company is required to file ITR electronically under digital signature.
• A firm or individual or HUF whose books of account are to be audited under section 44AB are mandated to e-file the ITR.
• All who are required to file ITR -5 is claiming tax relief under Section 90, 90 A and 91 of the Income Tax Act, 1961 via electronically.
• A resident taxpayer having assets located outside India is required to submit tax return electronically.
• For applying loan or visa, then also need a proof of filing tax returns which might be required.
• If an individual is receiving income from property which is held under any kind of trust or charitable purposes, research association, medical Centre, educational Centre, non- profit university or any trade union.
• If a non-resident Indian has his/her source of income from India, then he/she is also liable to pay the taxes and to file Income Tax Returns.

Required document for filing ITR

• PAN Card
• Bank Statement
• Interest certificates from banks or post offices
• Proof of tax saving investments
• Form 16
• Salary slips
• TDS Certificate
• Form 16A/16B/16C
• Form 26AS

Process to check status of ITR via online

By Acknowledgment Number

• Log in to site of the Income Tax Department
• On the left side of homepage, under the ‘Services’ tab, select the ‘ITR Status’ option.
• After selecting an option, you will be redirected to a new page where you are required to provide the information such as PAN, ITR acknowledgement and captcha code.
• Submit the details and status will be displayed on your device screen.

By using Log in credentials

• Log in with the User ID on the income tax return e-filing portal.
• On the ‘dashboard’, select ‘View Returns/forms’ option.
• Select the Income Tax return option and relevant assessment year from the drop-down menus and submit.
• Once all the details have been submitted successfully, status of return will appear on the screen.

Important dates to remember for filing ITR

Advantages of filing Income Tax return online

• The deadline for filing the Income Tax return is fixed for almost every year that is either 31st July or 30th August. It is wise to finish the task of filing Income Tax return in advance to face less congestion on the website as the final date approaches.
• If you are not filing Income Tax, it will lead to penalties for each day until payment is made. If you file Income Tax return online, it offers the convenience of filing return on time sitting anywhere just with a click.
• Filing Income Tax will also help to keep a record of all the financial transactions with the IT department in an efficient manner. Whenever an individual or an organization seeks a loan from any bank or financial institution, proof of income is required.

Type of ITR forms

Different forms of ITR are available on the website of the Income Tax Department of India for various types of taxpayers and having total income up to 50 Lakhs.

ITR-1 – This form is also called SAHAJ. ITR-1 or SAHAJ is meant to be filed by an individual whose source of income is from salary, pension, one house property, interest or income from other sources (excluding winning from lottery winnings and income from racehorses) and having the total income of up to Rs. 50 lakhs.

ITR-2 – This form is for individuals or the Hindi Undivided Families (HUFs) who have income which is not from the profits and gains of a business or otherwise profession.

ITR-3 – This form is for different persons or the HUFs whose source of income is from the profits and gains of a business or profession.

ITR-4 – This form is for those who have presumptive income from a business or profession

ITR-5 – This form is for everyone other than individuals, HUF, company and person filing Form ITR-7.

ITR-6 – This form is for all those companies which are not claiming exemption under Section 11 of the Income Tax Act.

ITR-7 – This form is relevant for all people including those enterprises who are required to file tax returns under the Section 139(4A), Section 139(4B), Section 139(4C), Section 139(4D), Section 139 (4E) or 139 (4