Here is the step-by-step guide to income tax returns

Filing income-tax returns isn’t anymore a major hassle, more so if you are a salaried middle-class taxpayer. No need to run to the CA, or seek expert help. You can do it yourself online in real quick time.

Visit the website www.incometaxindiaefiling.gov.in to file your returns online. A Google search of the string ‘income tax e-filing’ will throw up this website as the first result.

Enter the website by clicking the ‘Login Here’ tab on top right.

(If you aren’t a registered user yet, you must complete the registration process to log in (the tab for this is just above the login button) by entering your personal details and selecting a password.)

A user ID is required to log in and that is your PAN number.

Now, enter the password and date of birth in the date-month-year format. For instance, if the date of birth is July 1, 1980, enter it as 01/07/1980 (at times, this field may not appear).

Next, type in the captcha code — if you can’t read it, click on the refresh tab that will throw up a new code, or use the audio button — and log in.

You are now in your personal space on the income-tax website.

Click on the third tab on top, ‘e-File’, and on the dropdown menu, select the first option, ‘Income Tax Return’.

On the next screen, select these:

Assessment Year: 2018-19

ITR Form Name: ITR 1

Submission Mode: Prepare and Submit Online

Now, select the option at the end, “I don’t want to e-validate…”, and click the “Continue” tab.

This will take you to a page with half a dozen tabs. The first one is ‘Instructions’. Read it before proceeding further.

Clicking on the right arrow key at the bottom (or top) will take you to a page that says ‘Part A General Information’. Check details like your address, Aadhaar and phone numbers and e-mail ID here. If there is an error, fix that before moving onto the second part of the same page.

There, in the ‘Employer Category’, select the one that is applicable to you from the four options: Government, Public Sector Unit, Others, Not Applicable. If the only source of income is interest, select ‘Not Applicable’.

Answer the question ‘Whether original or revised return?’ by selecting ‘Original’.

Before moving on, save the draft that you have already filled in (the website will also remind you to do so every few minutes). Clicking the right arrow button will take to the next page.

This section is ‘Computation of Income and Tax’. Here, under the head B1, give the salary details as per Form No. 16. Once everything is filled in, the last column will display your taxable salary. Ensure that the amount displayed here is the same as on Form No. 16.

Next (B2) is deduction against home loan. Here, in ‘Type of House Property’, click on ‘Self Occupied’ if that is the case. Against ‘Interest Payable’, enter the interest paid in fiscal year 2017-18 on the home loan (verify the amount against bank certificate and Form No. 16).

If you get rental income, select the option ‘Let Out’ under ‘Type of House Property’. Enter the total rent received as ‘Gross Rent Received’ and the property tax that you paid on that house as ‘Tax Paid to Local Authorities’. If there is a home loan, provide the interest outgo as ‘Interest Payable’. The site will calculate your taxable rental income and display that.

In B3, against other income, show your total interest income, such as from savings bank accounts, fixed deposits, bonds, etc.

With this, you have essentially provided all information on your income for the year. The gross total income is now displayed under B4.

How to register for e-filing?

Open the webpage www.incometaxindiaefiling.gov.in. Click on the tab “Register Yourself” on top right.

Select User Type as ‘Individual’, and click “Continue’. Enter the PAN number and your surname.

The income tax database has your name with expanded initials. For instance, Antony G.M. will be Antony George Marikkar (of course, if these are the expansion of the initials). The fifth letter of PAN often indicates the surname as captured in the database. If the PAN number is BFJPG6218E, the fifth letter is G. So, the surname here is ‘George’.

The fields that have an asterisk against should compulsorily be filled.

Select ‘Resident’ as the “Residential Status’. In the next page, type in a password. Give answers for the two password-recovery questions that will help in case you forget the password.

Next, enter the mobile number, email ID, address and press ‘Continue’. Now, enter the OTP that has been sent to the mobile phone and email (the OTP may also not be sent to mobile phone during registration).

Enter the OTP and press the ‘Validate’ button.

Your registration is over. You can log in with your PAN number, password and date of birth, and file e-returns.

Tax exemptions

There are exemptions under as many as 19 sections of Section 80C to 80U. Once these are filled, as much as 90% of the filing process is over.

Now, your ‘Total Income’ will be displayed against C2 and the tax liability under the head Part D, ‘Computation of Tax Payable’.

Save the draft and move on to the next section.

Alternatively, you may click on the ‘Tax Details’ tab on top. This will show the tax deducted at source by the employer (TDS 1). Compare Form No. 16 and the TDS 1 schedule to ensure that both match.

If TDS 1 doesn’t have any information or the numbers don’t match with those on Form 16, type in the data as per Form 16. If you have worked in more than one place during the last financial year, see if the information from all workplaces is captured on the TDS 1 schedule and that they tally.

TDS 2 – this will show the tax deducted from interest income.

TDS 3 - if tax was deducted on rent received, that will come here.

If you have paid ‘Self Assessment Tax/Advance Tax’, that will be displayed in the last schedule, ‘Sch IT’.

Save the draft again and click on the right-arrow at the bottom. You are now in the page: ‘Taxes Paid and Verification’.

Here, the ‘Total Taxes Paid’ will be shown under D12. If you have paid more than what is due, the difference will be displayed under D14 (refund). If there is a shortfall, that will come under D13 (Amount Payable).

If there is tax to be paid, click on the ‘e-Pay Tax’ option and ‘Confirm’.

At times, the tax challan would come up filled with the data.

You can pay the tax via net banking or debit card. Select the bank, enter the captcha code and press the “Proceed” button.

Now, press ‘Submit to Bank”, log on to your bank account and pay the tax.

When you log in, it will take you to the challan to pay tax. If it doesn’t show the amount to be paid, you may type that in. Then press ‘Confirm’.

Go to the option ‘Download Challan/View Challan’ and open the document. Then press ‘Tax Details’.

At the end of the e-filing page, against ‘Sch IT’, enter the details as per the challan, save it and click on the ‘Taxes Paid and Verification’ tab. If you have paid the entire outstanding tax and the bank transaction was successful, the field D13 ‘Amount Payable’ will show zero.

Under the ‘Exempt Income’ field, enter details of any tax-free income you had in the past year, such as from dividends, long-term capital gains, retirement income, etc.

Where does the refund go?

Under ‘Part E – Other Information’, enter details of the bank account where you want the refund, if any, to be credited to, like the name of the bank, IFSC code and account number.

In the section below that, provide information on all the bank accounts you held at any time the previous year. If the fields provided aren’t enough, press the ‘Add’ button.

Under the ‘Verification’ field at the bottom, type “In my capacity as INDIVIDUAL’. Enter the name of the place from where you are filing the return.

It’s time now to upload the return.

Press the ‘Preview & Submit’ button. In the dialogue box that opens up, click on ‘OK’.

You will get a preview of ITR 1, combining all the information that you have provided. You may download the preview.

Check it for any errors.

If you are sure about the information, press the ‘Submit’ button.

You will get a message confirming successful filing of the return.

Return verification

The process doesn’t end here though.

The income-tax department will process the return only if you verify it.

To verify, log in again. Press the first tab on the top menu, Dashboard’ (it, in fact, is the opening screen), and select the option ‘View Returns/Forms’. From the ‘Select an Option’ dropdown menu, clink ‘Income Tax Return’ and then ‘Submit’.

You can see all the returns that you have filed online. Click on the 15-digit acknowledge number of the AY 2018-19 return (the one that you just finished filing), and then select ‘ITR V/Acknowledgement’.

This will download the acknowledgement form of the return filed. The password to open it is the combination of your PAN number (in small letters) and date of birth. For instance, if the PAN number is BQAPS5570A and date of birth August 13, 1981, the password is ‘bqaps5570a13081981’ with no space in between.

Take a printout and sign it using blue ink. Now, send it to the Bengaluru address given in the printout via normal post of speed post.

That ends the process. Next is the verification stage.

But, you can also e-verify the filing, which will help avoid the hassle of sending the printout by post.

Should I file returns?-

If your total income last fiscal year was more than Rs 2.5 lakh, you are required to file the return.

Total income is the amount before applying deductions under sections 80C to 80U.

For instance, if the combined income from salary and interest is Rs 3.2 lakh and deductions under 80C to 80U are Rs 1 lakh, the taxable income is Rs 2.2 lakh. But you still must file the return since the total income (Rs 3.2 lakh) is more than the Rs 2.5 lakh cutoff.

Those who are over 60 years of age need to file returns only if the total income is more than Rs 3 lakh. That exemption limit is Rs 5 lakh for those who are 80 years or older.

Form 26AS

It captures all the tax that you have paid or deducted from your income, such as by the employer on salary or the bank on interest income.

Compare the numbers in your return and Form 26AS. If these don’t match, there is a possibility of the return becoming defective.

For instance, assume that TDS was cut from both salary and interest income, but Form 16 was showing only information related to salary. So, if you don’t provide information on ‘interest income’ in the return, it may end up defective.

How to see Form 26 AS?

After logging into the income-tax e-filing website, in ‘My Account’, click on the first menu ‘View Form 26 AS’ (Tax Credit). Now press ‘Confirm’, tick the box “I agree” and select ‘Proceed’.

On the next section, click on ‘View Tax Credit (Form 26AS)’. Select Assessment Year 2018-19 and HTML from the ‘View As’ options.

Next, type in the ‘Verification Code’ and press ‘View/Download’, which will open your Form 26AS for Assessment Year 2018-19.

Exemptions and the sections

80C: Life insurance premium, provident fund, tax-free deposits and mutual funds, tuition fees of children, payment of home loan principal, etc.

80D: Health premium paid in the name of the taxpayer, spouse, children and parents

80E: Loan taken for the education purpose of self, spouse or children, for up to seven years

80TTA: Up to Rs 10,000 on interest income from savings bank accounts

80G: Tax-free donations come under this

Offline filing

Income-tax return can be filed offline as well. For that, fill in the form ITR1 Sahaj and submit at the concerned income tax office. You will get a receipt acknowledging filing of the return.

But if the taxable income is Rs 5 lakh or more, the return must be filed online.

PAN-Aadhaar linking

If your PAN is not linked to Aadhaar, a dialogue box will open while logging into the income-tax e-filing website, giving an option to link those. Give your Aadhaar number and name there, and you will get a message on linking the two.

How to do e-Verification

If your Aadhaar and mobile number are linked, e-verification of the return can be done easily and quickly.

On the dashboard of the income-tax e-filing website, select ‘View Returns/Forms’ and opt for ‘Income Tax Return’ under the tab ‘Select an Option’. Then, click on ‘Submit’.

Select the tab on top left that says, ‘Click here to view your returns pending for e-Verification’. Next, press the ‘e-Verify’ tab on the right and select ‘Option 3’. You will get an OTP on your Aadhaar-linked mobile phone. Enter that and ‘Submit’.

The verification process of ITR V is over.

No need to sign the return and send it to Bengaluru.