HOW TO FILE YOUR INCOME TAX RETURNS?

Have you filed your income tax return yet? If you answered no or are curious to know about it, we’ve got you covered the same in this article.

To begin with, there are two ways for filing your income tax returns: online and offline. We’ll guide you how to e–File your returns in this article.

e-Filing is the process of filing Income Tax Returns (ITR) using the internet. The process of e-Filing an ITR is simple and may be done from the convenience of one’s own home or office. With that, there are several reasons why one must file their returns & they are –

• Easy Loan Approval
• Claim Tax Refund
• Income & Address proof
• Avoid Penalty
• Carry forward of losses

Not just that, e-Filing ITR can also help you save money because you won’t have to hire someone (i.e., a consultant or a professional) to file your ITR. Additionally, you can now file your taxes using the new income tax portal, which includes features such as access to a mobile app, several payment options, a single dashboard, and query support to ease the process.

So before you file the returns, you’ll need to register on the e-filing portal. Let’s look at the step-by-step instructions for registering on an e-Filing portal –

Step 1: Visit the e – Filing website

Step 2: Register or Login (if you have already registered before) to e-File your returns.

Step 3: Click on ‘Taxpayer’ and then enter the details of your PAN and click on ‘validate’. Next, click on ‘Continue’. Further, you need to enter your personal details such as – name, address, gender, residential status, DOB & etc.

Step 4: Once done, you can provide your email address & mobile number & then verify the same by entering the OTP (One Time Password) that you have received over your registered email address & mobile number.

Step 5: A new window will display when the OTP has been verified, inviting you to double-check the information you’ve provided. If any of your information is inaccurate, you can correct it, and a new OTP will be given to validate the same.

Step 6: The final step is to create a password and a secure login message, after which you will receive an acknowledgement message confirming that the registration procedure was successful.

The next step after registering on an e-Filing portal is to login & e-file your income tax returns –

Step 1: Go to the official e – Filing website  and click the ‘Login’ button.

Step 2: Thereafter, enter your Username, click on Continue, and then your Password.

Step 3: After logging into the portal, go to the ‘e-File’ tab and then to ‘File Income Tax Return.’

Step 4: Select the Assessment Year for which you wish to file your Income Tax Returns and click on ‘Continue’.

Step 5: You’ll be asked whether you want to file your taxes offline or online. We have selected online, as the former takes a little more time than the latter.

Step 6: Choose if you want to file your taxes as an Individual, a Hindu Undivided Family (HUF), or others. Here, we have selected ‘Individual’ as an option.

Step 7: Select the Income Tax Returns (ITR) that you want to submit. You can refer to the table given below to understand the ITR forms. Here, We have selected ITR Form 1. Once done, you need to fill in your details as per the form selected by you.

Step 8: The following step will question you whether you filed your returns beyond the basic exemption limit (A basic exemption limit reduces the amount of income that is subject to Income Tax, for example – the basic exemption limit for individuals under the age of 60 is ₹2,50,000 under the old tax regime) or because of Section 139’s seventh clause (1).The Seventh Proviso to Section 139(1) is all about the compulsory filing of return of income in case of high-value transactions or expenditure.

Step 9: The last step is to fill in your bank details. And then, you will be directed to a new page to file your returns. There, you have to confirm the summary of your returns & validate it. Once this process is done, you need to send the hardcopy of it to the IT Department.

Yayy, and your Income Tax Return is filed!

Did you know?

If you are eligible to file your Income Tax Return & you do not file the same, then a late fee upto ₹ 10,000 or more will be charged. 

*If you find difficulty in understanding any of the above-mentioned terms, you can drop a question on the BeingLXME community on the LXME App & our Money Coaches will assist you further for your queries.