Income Tax EFiling: How to file Income Tax Return Online

What is Income Tax eFiling?

Income Tax Return efiling or ITR e-filing is the process of filing income tax return online to the Income Tax Department. e-Filing ITR is mandatory in India for anyone who is less than 60 years of age and has an annual income more than the basic exemption limit (Rs. 2.5 lakh for FY 2020-21).

Read about: Income Tax & Income Tax Return (ITR)

ITR is important because it is a disclosure of your income. Other than that, there’s a list of reasons about the benefits of ITR and ITR efiling.

Benefits of Income Tax eFiling

Proof of Income: eFiling ITR on time is necessary since ITR is a proof of your income. This record acts as a proof in case the taxpayer wishes to carry out a business relation with any organization in the future.
Claim Tax Refund: By efiling ITR, you can claim income tax refund for any extra tax you already paid. You can easily get back the extra money you spent.
Transaction Record: ITR e-Filing also helps the taxpayer in keeping a track of all the financial transactions with the Income Tax Department in a more effective manner.

Remember that, not doing your ITR efiling on time or at all can lead to serious consequences. You can be charged a penalty under Section 234F on a person who is required to file an Income Tax Return under Section 139 and didn’t file ITR or filed after the due date.

Let’s tell you about how to start the process of ITR e-filing.

eFiling ITR Registration

Registering on income tax efiling portal is an easy task and takes up to a few minutes. Here are the steps:

Open Income Tax efiling portal at https://www.incometaxindiaefiling.gov.in/home.
On the right side of the screen, click on the “Register Yourself” button to start the ITR e-filing registration process.
Pick out the “User type” as per choice; you can choose between individual, HUF,, other than HUF/ Individual, chartered accountants, external agency, tax deductor and collector etc. Click on “Continue” after that.
Enter your personal details like name, middle name, surname, date of birth and residential status (Resident or Non-Resident) and most importantly your PAN details. Once you fill them, click on “Continue”.
Enter details such as contact number, address and other essential information required to proceed. Click on “Submit”.
You will get a 6 digit One Time Password (OTP) on your registered email ID and mobile number. Enter the same to register and click on “Validate”.

Remember that once you register, your PAN number will be your user ID for ITR login.

eFiling ITR Login

After completing your ITR registration, you can easily login into your ID the next time you open the tax filing portal. Here are the steps:

Open Income Tax efiling portal at https://www.incometaxindiaefiling.gov.in/home.
Click on the “Login Here” button on the right side of the home page.
Enter all the required mandatory details like your User ID (which is your PAN Card Number), password and Captcha code. Click on “Login”.

Who Should Do Income Tax eFiling Online?

Any resident individual or company is supposed to do income tax efiling. Amount of tax payable by the taxpayer differs as per the IT (Income tax) act. The tax payable depends on the age of the person and the income that they earn. Individuals and organizations listed below are required to pay tax and do income tax e-filing online:

Resident Individuals
Hindu Undivided Families (HUFs)
Corporate firms
Companies
Body of Individuals (BOIs)
Association of Persons (AOPs)
Artificial Judicial Persons
Local Authorities

Documents Required for Income Tax eFiling

You need documents like Form 16, Form 26AS, an aadhar card during the process of ITR efiling. Here’s the complete list:

Form 16, Form 16B, Form 16C
Salary Slips
Interest certificates on banks and FDs
Form 26AS
Tax-saving investment proofs
Interest on bank deposits and post office deposits
Home Loan Interest Certificate (For Deductions under Section 24)
Rent Receipts for HRA
Deductions under section 80D to 80U
Profit and Loss Account (in case of Self Employed)
Aadhar card

Eligibility Criteria for Income Tax eFiling

Anyone who is less than 60 years of age and has an annual income more than Rs. 2.5 lakh has to file ITR (income tax returns), according to the Income Tax Act, 1961.

There are however, some special criterias for an individual or a company to file their ITR. The following is the list of the criterias:

Return filing is mandatory if you want a refund on income tax.
In case of senior citizens (above 60 years and below 80 years), the cut-off is Rs3 lakh, and for super senior citizens (more than 80 years), the cut off is Rs. 5 lakh.
ITR needs to be filed for any income from property under a charitable trust, religious purposes, medical institution, hospital or any other institution.
Irrespective of profits or losses incurred during a financial year, it is compulsory for a company to file ITR.
Filing your ITR is compulsory if you are a resident of India but have property or financial interest in an entity outside India.
Filing your ITR is still compulsory if you are a resident of India but have signing authority in a foreign account.

Different ITR Forms

The different types of ITR forms used to file Income Tax Returns are: ITR 1, ITR 2, ITR 3, ITR 4, ITR 5, ITR 6 and ITR 7. Although all of them are used to file ITR, the category of the taxpaying party changes with every form:

When to use ITR 1?

ITR 1, also called “Sahaj” is for resident individuals (other than not ordinarily resident) whose annual income from salary, interest income and income from a single residential property, does not exceed Rs. 50 lakhs in one financial year. It can only be used by those with agricultural income up to Rs. 5,000 annually.

When to use ITR 2?

ITR 2 is for individuals and HUFs (Hindu Undivided Families) not earning any income from a profession/business.

When to use ITR 3?

ITR 3 is for individuals and HUFs earning any kind of income from a business/profession. Individuals who generate income from the 2 sources below should file ITR 3:

a) Have a business/profession
b) Generate income from property such as house, salary/pension and other sources

When to use ITR 4?

ITR 4 or “Sugam” is for individuals, HUFs, or firms (excluding LLP) with annual income up to Rs. 50 lakh from business/profession computed u/s 44AD, 44ADA, 44AE.

When to use ITR 5?

ITR 5 is for BOIs (Body of Individuals), Limited LLPs (Liability Partnership Firms), Association of Persons (AOPs), Artificial Juridical Person (AJP), estate of insolvent, estate of deceased, investment fund, business trust, local authority, and co-operative society.

When to use ITR 6?

ITR 6 form is for companies not claiming any kind of deduction under Section 11 of the IT Act.

When to use ITR 7?

ITR 7 is for companies and individuals who file returns under Section 139(4A/4B/4C/4D4E/4F) of the IT Act.

Now that you know about the different types of ITR forms, let’s tell you about how to file ITR online.

Steps For Income Tax eFiling

For Income Tax Return efilling, you will be required to visit the Income Tax Department official website and register for the same. If already registered, you can follow the steps mentioned below:

Open the Income Tax efiling portal and login into the e-filing portal.
Once successfully logged in online, click on “Income Tax Return” option under the heading “e-file”.
On the next page, select the “Assessment year” (in which you are filing your return), “ITR form type” and submission mode and click on “Continue”.
To verify the Income Tax Return, you will be required to select the authentication type from Aadhaar OTP, EVC using Pre-validate bank details or send a signed ITR-V through normal or speed post and click on “Continue”.
Go through all the instructions carefully before starting the ITR efiling online process. Since, ITR 1 or Sahaj is the most commonly used form we’ve mentioned below the steps for ITR 1.
The first section is called “Part A: General Information”. In here, you will be required to fill all the personal information including Name, PAN Number, Aadhaar Number, Address, Email ID, nature of employment and more.
After entering all the general information, the next section that appears is called “Computation of Income and Tax”. Here, you can fill all the income details to compute gross total income. Also, fill in all the deduction details to compute your net taxable income and income tax.
Check all the “tax details” under the next section.
After that a new section called “Taxes Paid and Verification” will open where all of the tax details are mentioned including the tax already paid, tax amount payable and refund amount. Check all these details again.
Under the “80G” section, you can easily claim deductions if you’ve made any donations. Once you complete all the steps above, click on “Preview and Submit” option to check your ITR efiling.
Click on “Submit” and verify either offline or using e-verify, the steps for which are mentioned below. After a successful e-verification, you will get a confirmation of the same on your registered email ID.

ITR Verification

ITR verification, as the name suggests refers to the process of verifying your income tax returns. Always remember that uploading an income tax return alone does not complete the return filing process.

It is the first step of the process, the second one being ITR verification.

It is compulsory to verify your income tax return for the tax department to start the process of filing your return.

In case there is a refund, the process for refund also starts when the returns have been submitted and verified.

How to e-verify ITR?

Login to incometaxindiaefiling.gov.in with your credentials.
Click on the ‘View Returns/Forms’ option to see e-filed income tax returns.
Select the option ‘Click here to view your returns pending for e-verification’.
Click on the option ‘e-verify’.
After selecting e-verify, there is a list of modes through which you can generate an EVC.
Once you generate the EVC through your preferable mode. Your return can be verified electronically through any of the following means: via net banking, via Aadhaar OTP or via EVC on the Income Tax Department website. Enter the EVC and submit.
A confirmation message will be displayed with a transaction ID and EVC code. Click on the green button to download the attachment. This is for your record only. No further action is required.

Important Dates for Income Tax eFiling

Date	Activity Due

15th June 2020	Due date for the 1st instalment of advance tax for the FY 2020-21
15th September 2020	Due date for 2nd instalment of advance tax for the FY 2020-21
31st October 2020	Due date for filing of return of income for the assessment year 2020-21 if the assessee (not having any international or specified domestic transaction) is (a) corporate-assessee or (b) non-corporate assessee (whose books of account are required to be audited) or (c) partner of a firm whose accounts are required to be audited). The due date for filing of return has been extended from Juky 31, 2020 to November 30, 2020 vide the Taxation and Other Laws (Relaxation and Amendment of Certain Provisions) Act, 2020.
30th November 2020	Due date for filing of ITR for FY 2019-20 for all taxpayers
15th December 2020	Due date for 3rd instalment of advance tax for the FY 2020-21
15th March 2021	a) Due date for the 4th instalment of advance tax due for the FY 2020-21 b) Due date for the whole amount of advance tax for FY 2020-21 for taxpayers covered under the presumptive scheme of Section 44AD and 44ADA

Income tax Efiling Due Date Extension

Penalty for Late Filing of Income Tax Return

Currently, if any individual or firm that is required to file ITR under Section 139 fails to do the same, he/she/they will be liable to pay income tax penalty under Section 234F of the Income Tax Act, 1961.

In case they file the ITR before 31st December of the assessment year, a penalty of Rs. 5,000 will be charged. In case they take more time than that or don’t file ITR at all,a penalty of Rs. 10,000 will be charged.

Read: 8 Steps to file Income tax in 4 minutes

What is ITR eFiling Last Date for AY 2020-21?

The last date for efiling ITR for the assessment year 2020-21 has been extended to 31st December 2020, from the usual deadline of 2020-21. This is due to the Covid crisis that brought the country to a standstill during all summers.

Remember that, financial year and assessment year are different. If you file the Income tax for the Financial year between 1st April 2019 and 31st March 2020 or FY 2019-20, then its Assessment year would be 2020-21.

Written by

Priyanshi Bhardwaj