How to File Income Tax E-Filing Return ITR Online?

If you are a resident of India has taxable income generated from India more than Rs. 5,00,000/-, it is mandatory to file Income Tax Return (ITR) through e-filing. Income Tax Return can be e-filed at incometaxefiling.gov.in. If you are first timer and want to get your e-filing done, it could be a bit laborious task to you and probably confusing at times as to what to fill in which column etc. But don’t worry, we are here to help you out. If you are a salaried employee with or without income from house property, just follow the following guide to get your first e-filing done (ITR-1) in as much as 10 minutes’ time. Let’s start the tutorial:

Things to keep ready:

1. Income Tax computation sheet showing your total income from salary, Income from House property (if any), etc.

2. Have your details of various deductions allowed under Chapter-VIA (which include deductions u/s.80C, medi-claim, principal of House interest paid if any, LIC/PPF/ELSS etc, donation details eligible u/s.80G).

3. Bank account details (IFSC code, Bank Account number, amount deposited during demonetization period if in excess of Rs.2,00,000/-).

4. Taxes paid details, TDS deducted etc. (If you have Form 16, these can be found there).

Step-1: Register yourself at the incometaxefiling.gov.in website. Refer to the the guide on Invalid Surname / Invalid First Name error, should you encounter any error while registering at the Income Tax India e-filing website.

Step-2: After registering, you need to complete the verification of your registration by clicking on the link that you receive in your email. Registration is done now.

Step-3: Login to the incometaxindiaefiling.gov.in website with your credentials. Now before we can proceed, first make sure you have linked your PAN with Aadhaar number.

Step-4: Click on the e-File option and from the drop-down menu, choose “Prepare and Submit Online ITR”.

Step-5: Now it will ask for Assessment Year and the ITR Form Name. Choose respective Assessment Year (AY 2017-18 if you are filing for FY 2016-17) and under ITR Form Name choose ITR 1 if you do not have any business income during the previous year (Financial Year 2016-17 in this case). Click Submit.

Step-6: Now the form (let’s say you have chosen ITR-1) ITR-1 for Assessment Year 2017-18 starts. The first page shows the instructions. Carefully go through the instructions. Once done, click on the arrow button to proceed to the next tab which is about Personal Information.

Step-7: In the Personal Information tab, scrupulously go through all the personal information which is pre-filled either from your PAN database (if you are filing for the first time) or from previous returns. Update the details like Address, Mobile Number and email address so that they remain up-to-date.

Step-8: Under the Employee Category choose the type of your employer. If you are a private employee, choose “others”. Residential status is by default “RES – Resident”, Return filed under section as “On or before due date 139(1)”. You might not want to change these default values unless you are not a resident during previous year or if you are filing a belated return.

Step-9: Scroll down. Keep the default values that are being shown in other columns. In Column No.28, you will be asked if you have Aadhaar Number and if so, to provide the same. If you have already linked your PAN and Aadhaar, your Aadhaar number will automatically appear here. If not, you can manually enter your Aadhaar number. Click Save Draft.  You should periodically save the data that you have entered as E-filing website automatically logs you out after an inactive period of 15 minutes. Now Click on the arrow Button to move the next tab ‘Income Details’.

Step-10:  The ‘Income Details’ is the most important tab in the whole E-Filing process as it will take the vital inputs like your income from salary, income from house property etc., and calculates your tax liability accordingly. Have your tax computation sheet ready, and enter the Total Income from Salary/Pension from your computation sheet. Generally this total income from salary figure is net of your salary minus all the eligible exemptions which do not form part of salary like HRA exemption (u/s.10(13A)), Transport Allowance exemption, Professional Tax paid and Child Education Allowance etc.

Next is, filling up the ‘Income from House Property’ details. If you owned a House Property during the previous year, you should fill these details. Either it can be Let out or Self Occupied. Keep your Income From House Property details ready and fill in them in the Column No. B2.

Next is, Income from Other Sources. If you have any income from interest on Savings Deposits aggregating more than Rs.10,000/-, you will have to show it here. Other types of Income from Other Sources include: Family pension payments received by the legal heirs of deceased employee, dividends received covered  u/s.2(22)(e), income from winning of lotteries, interest on securities, gift of money received from unrelated persons the aggregate value of which exceeds Rs.50,000/- covered u/s.56(2)(vii) (unless it is received from any relative, or received on occasion of the marriage, under a will or by way of inheritance). Fill on the relevant details in Column No. B3.

Step-11: Now comes the filling up of Deductions under Chapter VI A which covers 80C, 80CCC, 80CCD(1), 80CCD(1B), 80CCD(2), 80CCG, 80D, 80DD, 80DDB, 80E, 80G, 80GG, 80GGA, 80GGC, 80RRB, 80QQB, 80TTA & 80U. Once you fill in all the relevant columns in the Deductions as per your Income Tax computation sheet and total deductions and Taxable Total Income will now be displayed. Tax computation will be automatically done and the Total Tax and Interest will be shown in Column No.D12.  Click Save Draft and click the next arrow button. ‘Tax Details’ tab will show up.

Step-12: Have your Form 16 and Form 26AS (can be seen by clicking “View Form 26As” link under My Account). Verify the details that would have already filled in the ‘Sch TDS1’ column. Ideally if you were employed with only one employer during previous year, the details in Form 26AS, details in Form 16 and the details pre-filled in the column ‘Sch TDS1’ should match. If you have made any other Tax payments like Advance Tax, Self Assessment Tax etc., fill them in the Column ‘Sch IT’ along with details of BSR Code, Date of Deposit, Challan Serial Number and Tax Paid. Click ‘Save Draft’ and proceed to next tab by clicking on the next arrow button.

Step-13: You will be now at the tab ‘Taxes Paid and Verification’.  You need to fill only your Bank account details here. The details should include IFSC code of the Bank, Bank account number. Be careful in entering the Bank account details since refund if any will be credited to this account by the Income Tax Department after processing your Income Tax Return u/s.143(1). If you ate filing for AY 2017-18, it will also ask you to enter amount of cash deposited during the demonetization period (November 09, 2016 to December 30, 2016) if it is in excess of Rs.2,00,000/-. Enter your name and place in the ‘Verification’ column and click ‘Save Draft’. Proceed to the next tab.

Step-14: The tab ‘80G’ will show up. Fill in the relevant donations eligible for deduction u/s.80G if any made during the previous year. Click on ‘Save Draft’. Click ‘Preview & Submit’ button.

Step-15: Now that you have entered all the data which is required, double-check each and every filed you entered and cross check with the computation sheet that you have ready with you. If there is any tax liability, close the preview, go to the Tax Paid and Verification tab (Step-13) and click ‘E-Pay Tax’.

Click on the ‘Confirm’ button, you will be taken to the NSDL website. ITNS 280 e-Payment form will open up. Check the details that have been filled automatically and either choose ‘Net Banking’ or ‘Debit card’.

Click Submit to the Bank. Here I am using State Bank of India. Just go through the payment pages and make sure you enter the correct amount in the Tax/Interest column and complete the payment.

Now save a copy of the receipt (Please note that if you trying to e-Pay the Tax after the working hours, the same payment will be put through the next working day at 08:00am). Make a note of the BSR Code, Challan No etc., for reference. In case this tax paid amount does not reflect in the Tax Details tab, you can manually enter it under the ‘Sch IT- Details’ of Advance Tax and Self Assessment Tax Payments for claiming the credit.

You are good to go now. Click Preview and Submit Button and Click Submit. Your Income Tax Return for the Assessment Year you have chosen will be submitted. However, it is not done yet. One last and very important step is to e-Verify your return. A tutorial on How to E-Verify your Income Tax Return e-filed will be dealt in a separate post.

Your E-filing is done. Once you have submitted your ITR, please download a copy of the Acknowledgment and a copy of the ITR and keep it with you for future reference.