From assessment year 2013-14, E-filing has been made compulsory for the person who is an individual or a Hindu undivided family (HUF), if his or its total income, or the total income in respect of which he is or it is assessable under the act during the previous year, exceeds Rs. 5 lakh rupees for the assessment year 2013-14 onwards. It clearly states total income and not taxable income.
Please read below to know how you can file income tax return online yourself.
Calculate Income tax
You can calculate your income tax payable using the income tax calculator provided at this page: Income tax calculator. Income tax return excel utility also computes income tax, but they only take taxable income as input.
Also make sure that you also see whether the advance tax has been paid on time (See row 101-104 in tax calculator). In case you have paid the full tax but not paid on time as per the advance tax schedule, you are liable to pay interest under section 234 C. Income tax return excel utility also computes interest penalty u/s 234C.
Pay your tax online
Whatever pending amount you need to pay can be paid online on this link: Pay Taxes Online (Use only Internet explorer for this).
Select challan type as CHALLAN NO. /ITNS 280 and continue.
Select (0021) INCOME-TAX (OTHER THAN COMPANIES) in tax applicable field and
Select (300) SELF ASSESSMENT TAX in type of payment.
Select bank through which you want to pay.
Make sure to add interest penalty as computed by income tax return excel form u/s 234A, 234B and 234C in case of tax payments after due date.
You also pay through your net banking login on Axis Bank, Oriental Bank of Commerce, State Bank of Patiala, Bank of Baroda, IDBI Bank, State Bank of Mysore, Bank of Maharashtra, State Bank of Hyderabad, State Bank of Saurashtra, Union Bank of India, Allahabad Bank, Dena Bank, Syndicate Bank, ICICI Bank, State Bank of India, Punjab National Bank, Indian Overseas Bank, Canara Bank, Indian Bank, Bank of India, Corporation Bank, State Bank of Bikaner & Jaipur, State Bank of Travancore, State Bank of Indore, Vijaya Bank and HDFC Bank.
You can check online if your money has actually reached the I-T Department. For this you have to go to Tax Information Network Website and click the box CIN Based View. Provide details as per the receipt generated while online tax payment.
Fill Income tax return form
Download respective income tax form from income tax website. Income tax department has modified the return preparation software to include automatic calculation of tax and interest.
Income from Salary/Pension, interest and single house property ( but with exempt income is less than Rs. 5,000) : ITR-1
Income from more than one house property, capital gains, salaries, pension, interest and exempt income more than Rs 5,000: ITR-2
Income from partnership in a firm: ITR-3
Income from business/profession: ITR-4
Income from Presumptive Business: ITR-4S
Exempt income here includes transport/conveyance allowance, HRA exemption, agricultural income, insurance maturity amount, LTA, Gratuity, Interest on PPF balance, Leave Encashment, Income from Mutual Funds, Dividends and long term capital gains.
Fill up the form with information provided in Form-16 and the tax calculated in income tax calculator above in Step 1.
If you don’t know Assessing Officer (Ward / Circle), Find it here by submitting your PAN.
After filling up the form, Generate tax return XML from the income tax form by clicking Generate button on first sheet of excels form.
e-File income tax return
After you have created a XML file from income tax return excel form, Go to Income Tax e-Filing Website.
Create your login on this page on website. It’s not mandatory, to use a digital signature for electronically filing the return.
a) Filing return without digital signature:
Login to income tax site and click on assessment year under submit return menu on left side of page.
Upload the generated XML on this page for 2012-13 assessment year.
On successful upload acknowledgment details would be displayed.
Take printout of acknowledgment/ITR-V Form. You may also download it later. Login and go to link on top right My account > My Returns.
Form ITR-V has to be submitted with the Income tax Department as verification of the electronic filing of the return within 120 days after the date of e-Filing.
Form ITR-V is bar-coded, so it need not to be folded and to be mailed in a A4 size envelope BY ORDINARY or SPEED POST ONLY to “Income Tax Department – CPC, Post Box No – 1, Electronic City Post Office, Bengaluru – 560100, Karnataka” within 120 days after the date of e-filing of return. ITR-V sent by Registered Post or Courier will not be accepted. No Form ITR-V shall be received in any other office of the Income-tax Department or in any other manner. Please keep a copy of the same with you also. After some day of posting the ITR-V, you can check status of receipt by going into account ‘My Account’ -> ‘E-filing Process Status’.
From year 2012-13, even if a person does not have digital signature, he can file online and even does not need to send ITR-V copy to Bangalore CPC (Central processing centre) address.
An electronic signature would be generated online in income tax efiling website after providing certain information from previous year’s income tax return. On validation of such information, unique PIN would be provided to person on email/SMS. This PIN can be used to file income tax return online without needing digital signature. This will also make sure no further hard copy needs to be sent to department.
b) Filing return with digital signature:
In case you don’t have digital signature and you want to buy that, you can buy class 2 or class 3. You can buy digital signature on e-Mudhra website . Class 2 individual certificate is available for Rs. 285 for 1 year validity.
In case return is filed with digital signature, user may take a printout of the Acknowledgment for his record. The tax-payer is not required to submit the Form ITR-V with the Income-tax Department.
Income tax department call center:
To assist taxpayers, a limited call center service has been established at ITD-CPC, Bangalore. Taxpayer queries on status of ITR-V receipt at CPC, Bangalore will be answered on 080-43456700 between 9:30 AM to 6 PM. The service will be available in English, Hindi and Kannada.
One may also call on 1800-425-2229 (Toll free) or 080-43456700 for status of receipt of ITR-V at CPC, Processing status of e-filed returns, Refund issues and any other information related to processing of returns at CPC. The working hours of CPC Call center have been extended to 9AM-8PM on all working days.
I hope this article will help many of us and make tax filing Simple & Easy. So please this year Do-It-Yourself.
Feel free to comment/suggest anything that I may have missed.
Note : No hard copy of any kind of proof needs to be submitted along with Income tax return.
My Home Loan interest is not mentioned in the Form 16 given by the employer. But i mentioned it in ITR-2 while filing online IT Returns. After generating the XML and getting the ITR -V should I send the Form 16 and Loan Interest statement from bank, to IT department so that they can verify the details i entered in my ITR – V form?
@Praveen
There is no need to attach any document along with ITR-V. Income tax department trusts whatever you have stated in return 🙂
On the official website of IT it is written that Form ITR V can be submitted at the nearest local IT office while somewhere it is written that no Form ITR-V shall be received in any other office of the Income-tax Department or in any other manner (only at Banglore).Please clarify this matter
@Priya
ITR-V has to be sent only to central processing unit at Bangalore.
You can read here : https://incometaxindiaefiling.gov.in/portal/index.do
I agree with you but please have a look at point no.6 on https://incometaxindiaefiling.gov.in/portal/howToEFile.do
@Priya
This is an older page and has not been updated.
My 80C investments is not mentioned in the Form 16 given by my employer. But i mentioned it in ITR-1 while filing online IT Returns. After generating the XML and getting the ITR -V should I send the Form 16 and proof of my investment copy, to IT department so that they can verify the details i entered in my ITR – V form?
@Manikandan
No document needs to be attached with ITR-V. Just one page need to be printed and sent to central processing center.
what is the last date to filling income tax return [ Individuals ] for the financial year 2009-2010.
@Rohit
Official date is 31st July, 2010.
But you can file it till 31st March, 2011.
Thank u sir……….
last year I submitted my return by efilling without digital signature.I have taken print out of the Form ITR-V & it to bangalore(as specified in the website). But this year in the efilling site it is written —
” Incase the return is not digitally signed , on successful uploading of e-Return, the ITR-V Form would be generated which needs to be printed by the tax payers. This is an acknowledgement cum verification form. The tax payer has to fill-up the verification part and verify the same. A duly verified ITR-V form should be submitted with the local Income Tax Office withing 15 days of filing electronically. This completes the Return filing process for non-digitally signed Returns.”
https://incometaxindiaefiling.gov.in/portal/howToEFile.do
Please help me in this matter.
Like last year , can I submit the printed ITR-V Form to bangalore.
@Amrita
This seems to be an older page.
See home page of https://incometaxindiaefiling.gov.in/portal/index.do, it clearly states to submit ITR-V to central processing office in Bangalore.
thanks alot
Dear Sir,
I am a privet company service holder. After paying my income tax in the year 2009-2010, now i have to submit my income tax return file. I receive my form 16 from my office. Pl. inform me how can i submit my return file online.
@Soumen
This post File Income Tax Return Form Online has all the steps, using which you can file income tax online.
I want to Claim LTA with my return, however in the ITR 1 form I don’t see any place to put that in ? How do I do it ?
@Mohit
LTA cannot be claimed while filing income tax return. It has to be declared to your employer and LTA should be there in your salary structure.
My company does not take private rental car bills for LTA, most of my expenditure has been that. In that case what should be done.
@Mohit
You won’t be able to claim rental car bills.
Leave travel allowance is exempt from income tax within certain limits as under : –
(a) Where journey is performed by rail; railway-fare in Second AC class by shortest route to destination.
(b) Where places of origin and destination are connected by rail but the journey is performed by any other mode then Second AC class fare by shortest route to the place of destination.
(c) Where place of origin of journey and destination, or part thereof, are not connected by rail and journey is performed by any other transport; then
(i) If a recognized public transport system exists between such places the first class or deluxe class fare of such transport by shortest route, or,
(ii) If in other case, Second AC class fare for the distance of the journey by the shortest route, as if the journey has been performed by rail.
Not sure if that is correct, See this
http://www.rediff.com/getahead/2006/jul/11lta.htm (Quick Tips, Point ii).
Most of the companies do that rental car bills.
Also if we ignore the rental car bills, I have plane tickets of 25,000 (have boarding pass with me). I should be able to claim those.
Hi Pankaj,
I am filling up the Return Preparation Software, had a few questions:
1. Against the Designation of the Assessing officer (Ward / Circle) i need to mention the Jurisdiction that my PAN falls under?
2. What would be mentioned in the “Returned Filed Under Section”? I only have income from Salary.
3. While posting the print out to IT Banglore office, it says on the website to not fold it and send it in an A4 size envelope as it has a barcode, is that correct?
@Kamlesh
1. You can know your jurisdiction from this page: https://incometaxindiaefiling.gov.in/portal/common.do?screen=jurisdiction
2. You have to choose 11 – u/s 139(1) from drop down list.
3. Yes, its better that you send it in a large envelope without folding it. Otherwise machine might not read the barcode.
Pankaj,
I am trying ITR2 preparation software from Income tax website ITR2_2010_11_R13.zip. In PARTB – TI – TTI of the sheet, I am filling “Allowances exempt under section 10” but this amount is not reflecting anywhere in calculation of the sheet. I suspect that there is some problem with excel preparation software of Income tax. Could you please advise. I tried re-validating and recreating the excel but this amount is not getting reflected anywhere and as a result Income tax excel utility is calculating hefty tax .
@Abhishek
Allowances figure has to be provided just for informative purposes.
You have to provide salary figure excluding these allowances. Just deduct these non-taxable allowance and provide rest of the figure in salary portion.
Thanks I put the figures subtracting the allowances. Now calculations are correct. Actually the column “Salary (Excluding all allowances, perquisites & profit in lieu of salary)” confused me but actually we have to subtract the section 10 and employment tax amount out of total salary and put it there.
Hi,
I had switched the job and have two form 16. I had submitted form-16 of the first company to the Second company, hence their form-16 reflect the details like PF, income, Tax deducted of the first company. While filling the TDS sheet of ITR2, I filled the details of the first form16. But I am not getting what values to be entered for the second company’s case. Should I have to enter the details after deducting the income, pf , tax paid by the first company. Or else I can enter the details as is given in the form16. Pls help me on this.
@Amith
You can use combined figures in salary sections of income tax return form.
But in TDS sheet, you will have to provide figures for both separately.
Hello,
I am thankful for your wonderful explanation to file tax retuns online.
I have a question:
I sould get return of 6k.Can I submit the ITR-1 myself or it should be prepared by TPR.
Because It has been mentioned in ITR-1 in 27th point:
27.If TRP is entitled for any reimbursement from the Government, amount thereof (to be filled by TRP)
Is this amount something else ,not tax reimubursement?.what does this mean
@Prasad
There is no need to provide TPR details, if you are filing income tax yourself.
TRP is a program by income tax department, where they train people for tax return preparation and when a return is filed through TRP, income tax department pay some commission (reimubursement) to TRPs.
Pankaj,
I don’t have any income for year 2010. Can I file the IT returns with no income online?
@Sundeep
Yes, you can file income tax return online without having earned anything in the year.
Hey Pankaj,
Just came across this post while searching for e-filing of I.T. returns. You are doing a great job. Thanks.
Last Feb i changed my job.
I got Rs 45,000/- as HRA (10 Months) in previous company. But in New company
I got the Form 16 in which i was not given any tax benifit on HRA or
Conveyance allowance.It showing 2 month salary as per provision under sec
(17) 1.
Is it possible to claim the HRA tax benifit during filling the tax return and
How?
@Binny
If your salary does not have house rent allowance component, you can not avail tax benefit for house rent paid.
Hi Pankaj,
Why do you say it can not be claimed? Form 16 is not the ultimate proof of everything it just tell what has been deducted by employer.
If something is not in Form 16 it is still claimable.
@Mohit
HRA is a salary component, if same is not provided by your employer, you cannot ask for the same in income tax return. There is no provision in income tax return form to provide house rent.
There are other things which can be claimed in income tax return form, like 80-C savings and housing loan principal and interest payment, even if same is not there in form 16.
Hi Pankaj,
I’ve sent the ITR-V to Bangalore address for 2008-2009 returns & got an acknowledgement e-mail .
At that time it was mentioned in the website that they will scan the processed forms,stamp it & send it our mail.
But I didn’t receive any mail.
FYI…I did not get any refunds.
Now i’ve some queries..
1.Is the acknowledgement mail enough to show that they’ve processed the IT-returns successfully..or is it just a e-mail saying that they ‘ve received our post.
2.Till now there is no info regarding verified forms scanned copy
Are they planning to send last year’s scanned copy or not??
3.If not..what is the proof I need to show when applying for any loan/VISA etc..
4.Do you suggest the same process for this year too??
@Chandu
1. The email acknowledgment is enough as a proof for tax filing and that should work. This is just a confirmation of tax return form receive.
2. Yes, income tax department has been sending letter of income tax assessment. I filed 3 returns online but till yet only received one such letter, that too in June 2010.
3. You can show ITR-V copy while applying for loan/visa along with printout of verification email.
4. Yes, you should file income tax return online this year too.
Regarding refund, You can view Tax credit statement (form 26AS) here: https://incometaxindiaefiling.gov.in/portal/EndUserMenu.do?screen=viewTaxCredit after logging onto income tax e-filing website. This statement has mention of tax refund if same has been processed.
Hi Pankaj
I am an employee of private company. For my salay, my taxable amount and tax deducted matches exactly. However i have swapping a/c (savings, fixed a/c) in the same bank where my salary a/c is. So the bank is depositing the tax on the interest earned on this saving through TDS. When i used the ITR-1 excel form for IT return filing, i got to know that i have to pay some ‘X’ amount. How do i pay this remaining tax on-line? Is it through the same epayment link – https://onlineservices.tin.nsdl.com/etaxnew/tdsnontds.jsp ? If it is so, then do i have to mention the challan n.o in the ‘self assesment of tax’ on TDS sheet of ITR-1? I need your advice.
Thanks.
@Ravi
Please read the section ‘Pay your tax online‘ on this article: http://www.pankajbatra.com/india/file-income-tax-return-online-yourself/
After paying, you have to mention the challan no in self assessment tax section of ITR.
Hi Pankaj,
I have submitted the form 16A last year in Income tax department . Could u please tell me when i wll get the refund money. Plz reply me ASAP
@Jitender
Regarding refund, You can view Tax credit statement (form 26AS) here: https://incometaxindiaefiling.gov.in/portal/EndUserMenu.do?screen=viewTaxCredit after logging onto income tax e-filing website. This statement has mention of tax refund if same has been processed.
Hi,
While uploading the XML file on the website, I ma getting error message as “Please select proper XML file for processing” please advise Pankaj why is that error.
@Abhishek
Can you please cross check whether everything provided in income tax return excel is correct and valid.
Without looking into excel and xml, I won’t be able to tell whats wrong.
I find your site very informative , While filling CG-OS sheet of ITR2 , I am confused about :
1 where to enter CG details , there are 4 options under each category
2 If STT has been paid , LTCG is non-taxable, but there is no provision for entering STT
and tax is calculated on full LTCG amount in Sheets PARTB TI-TTI and SPI-SI , even the entries in sheet EI do not refect in the tax calculated
3 What is the purpose of the sheet EI , then ?
I have no Salary or HP incomes,
Thanks
@Mandhana
1. You have to provide sold amount, buying incurred and cost incurred on improvement/transfer for capital gains. In case its shares, you can put zero on cost of improvement and transfer.
2. If long term capital is arising from sale of shares/mutual funds, on which STT is paid, there is no need to provide it in CG-OS sheet.
3. EI sheet contains all income exempt from tax and you can provide long term gain with STT paid here. It won’t affect taxation and its just for informative purpose.
Hi Pankaj,
I have two form 16 s. and in the second one since i did not submit any rental proof or investment proof,medical bills or LTA bills company deducted tax. now i want fo file the tax return. can i
sumbmit the investment proof(LIC/MF) with return?
submit the rental proof for the second form 16 for the HRA tax deduction( i have received a component for HRA)?
can i claim deduction by submitting medical bills?
can i claim deduction for LTA while filing returns.I have read in few places that we can claim LTA while filing taxes.
@Rono
Yes, you can declare LIC and mutual fund saving in income tax return form, but no proof needs to be attached with return form/acknowledgment.
House rent, LTA and medical bills proof has to be shown to your employer and if same has not been submitted to employer then tax exemption can not be availed in income tax return filing. Income tax return does not have provision to provide values for these components.