in Finance, Income Tax, India |

File Income Tax Return Online

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.

income-tax-return-form-efile

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.

Facebook Comments
Jack of multiple trades. A generalist! Founder of Sparse Labs. Find me at FB, Twitter or LinkedIn .

Published

Write a Comment

Comment

1,489 Comments

  1. Hi,
    Actually I worked in three companies in the 2010-11 financial year.I got the total taxable income is 1,58,500.first company 54,100 second company 17,800 and third company 76,600.but there is one issue in the second company my last date of working is 27-JAN-2011 and in third company my joining date is 24-JAN-2011.Thats happened second company considered that three days as leave and they have given tax computation sheet.will there be any problem because of that overlapping when I file IT returns.In IT returns we should provide the joining date and last working day of each company.Provide me the solution for that.
    And what annexures we should submit along with IT returns.

    Reply to Krishna

  2. This Year i have two Form 16. Could you please guide me how to use this two form 16 to fill up the ITR 1 Column No 23 (Details of Tax Deducted at Source).My new employer has deducted tax based on the sum of salary income of my previous and current organization. Both the Form 16 is showing 1 lakh investment in 80C which is nothing but the repeatation.Should i take only one entry for column 23?

    Reply to Koushik

  3. i want to file incometax return first time &first time at online………pls guide me thro proper line up—–step by step procedure…

    Reply to prakash

  4. hai…………For some Reason I couldnot file the income tax return for last Assessement year, i.e 2010-11. Can I file now.What is the Procedure for it an what is yhe penalty. Please let me know…

    Reply to chaithra

  5. Dear Mr Pankaj,

    Thank you for your online help forum on filing income tax.

    I am trying to file income tax for assessment year 2011-12. I am a salaried employee and I am having income only from salary so I am filling up ITR-1. Can you please let me know where do I need to fill up my House rent which I am paying to my landlord? Should I mention Gross Salary in the in Row no 41: “Income from Salary“ or should I deduct my HRA from Gross Salary and mention that amount?

    Kindly help in figuring this out.

    Thank you.

    Reply to Amalendu

  6. Hi Pankaj,
    I have to get the IT return around Rs 6000 for AY 2009-2010.
    even IT tried to credit the amount to my saving account but at the last, i got a mail saying “they could not credit the amount to my account and it is not valid”.
    They have asked to send the bank account details along with cancelled check.
    I have sent it 2 months back and there is no reply or no credit happened to my account.
    what i suppose to do now, should i go IT office to enquire about this?

    Reply to ajay

  7. Hi Pankaj,
    Recently ,I read a article that the people who are salaried below 5 lakhs no need to file IT returns , Is it correct ? and tell me I am having taxable income of 1,67,000 rupees and i have paid 237 as TDS ,then I should file returns or not ?Please help me in this issue.

    Reply to Krishna

    • @Krishna
      Yes, individuals having taxable income (from salary and bank interests) less than 5 lacs need not to file income tax return.
      But in case you need to get refund on extra tax paid, you should file income tax return.

      Reply to Pankaj

  8. Hi Pankaj,

    For last year IT return 2009-2010, the refund amount has not been credited, donno whats the current status. Do you have any idea how much time IT department takes to refund the amount for service class.

    Thanks,
    Nikhl

    Reply to Nikhil

  9. Hi Pankaj….I worked in a company for 10 months…They provided Form 16 also but I have not declared any savings in that eg LIC policy nd HRA. How to claim that now online through ITR 1?

    Reply to Ankit

  10. Hi Pankaj,
    I have to get return of Rs 6000/- for AY 2009-2010.
    I have got a mail from IT dept, that “they could not credit the amount to my saving account in HSBC bank” and asked to provide the bank account details and cancelled check. I have sent the details and cancelled check 3 months back. Still now i have not got any replay, no amount is credited to my account. What i suppose to do now?
    Thanks,
    Ajay

    Reply to ajay

  11. Dear Pankaj,

    I bought flat in 2008 My Full EMI has started in Dec 2010. I got the possesion in May 2011. Last year i have file the return online. I have carry forward the loss (interest on home loan while filling the ITR2 (excel file). But when i got the INCOME TAX COMPUTATION sheet from IT department by post i found that amount written in front of LOSS IN CURRENT YEAR TO BE CARRY FORWARD is zero. that means there is no loss on property which need to be carry forward. Please advice me how to correct this mistake. Is it required to refile the Return for AY2010-11.

    The loss in AY2011-12 need to be carry forward. Please give me some tips while filling the ITR2 form for carry forward this loss.

    In addition to this i have to claim the LTA which is not indicated in the form 16. Please tell me where to fill this LTA amount in the ITR2 excel to file the return online. i guess as per supreme court there is no need to attach the bill

    Reply to Jeevan

    • @Jeevan
      Interest amount paid for home loan before year of possession, can be claimed in five equal installments over five years from the year of possession.
      So from financial year starting 2011-12, you can claim year’s interest paid + fifth portion of interest paid during 2010-11 and before.
      This details has to be entered under Schedule HP section (House Property sheet in ITR2).
      LTA cannot be claimed in income tax return. It has to claimed with employer, who can show same in form 16.

      Reply to Pankaj

  12. I have three queries.

    1) I was employed with a company until August 10th 2010 and then I resigned and joined another company where I worked Until December 15th 2010. On 1st of January 2011 I rejoined the previous company and I am still working there and they gave me form16 as well. For the second company they have not yet provided me the form16. I requested for the same. I am not sure if they will provide me form16 as my salary from August until December 2010 did not cross the taxable income limit and they did not deducted any TDS.

    Now at the time of filing return for 2010-2011 my total income from both the companies is taxable. In case if I do not get the form 16 from the second company, can I fill up the form based on the pay slips?

    2) If answer for my 1st question is yes, Can I show my tax saving investments (Insurance premiums and mutual funds) for the second company as well to get the benefit of section 80C…(Form16 from the first company has all these investment details mentioned under section 80C).

    3) During the financial year 2010-2011, I also earned some money by writing website contents. I worked as a freelance content writer. I am filing my tax return through taxsmile but it seems there is no such place to mention about my freelance income. I asked them and received vague replies from their customer support. One said that I can mention my freelance income under other incomes>residual income. When I did online chat again, another representative said, I will have to show that under business income module. However, the business income module is not working for the time being, so I will have to wait until that start working.
    Can you please guide me on this? In which category /sub- category my freelance income will appear.

    Kindly help me …

    Reply to Antu

    • @Antu
      1. Form 16 is not issued in case there was no TDS deducted. You will have to compute taxable income yourself by adding income from both employers (with considering exemptions like LTA, HRA, medical reimbursments etc).
      2. Tax saving investments can be shown in income tax return form, but max limit is 1 lac under 80-C.
      3. As you also have income from business/profession, you should file ITR 4. You can file it online on TaxMunshi.com

      Reply to Pankaj

  13. Dear Pankaj,
    I am not able to carry forward the interest (loss) while filling the details in the excel sheet. i have send the excel sheet to you on [email protected].

    I will be thankful if you help me where to fill the details of interest to carry forward this loss.

    Regards
    Jeevan Patil

    Reply to Jeevan

  14. Hi Pankaj, thanks for this helpful write-up.
    I have four doubts.
    1. For the FY 2010-2011, I have a housing loan.
    Should I choose ITR1 or ITR2? I saw that you have replied to somebody allready that it has to be ITR1.
    But I would like to reconfirm, since in the IT dept website, they have mentioned that ITR1 is only for “Income from Salary/Pension” and “Income from Other Sources (only Interest Income or Family Pension)”
    In the case of Interest from housing loan, i am incurring a loss due to my house property. To include that, the website says that I should choose ITR2.
    https://incometaxindiaefiling.gov.in/portal/individual_huf.do
    Please let me know if “Income/Loss from House Property” mentioned for ITR2 applicability is the same as Loss due to interest from Housing Loan.

    2. I made a mistake in calculating my housing loan interest – I initially declared a higher amount of interest than actual and so ended up paying lesser tax than I should have. So before filing my return, I am going to pay the remaining tax I should pay.
    My actual Tax Liability is 32963 but I have paid only 27159 as per the below schdule
    7-Jul 4738
    5-Aug 3393
    6-Sep 5803

    7-Oct 6973
    4-Nov 3126
    7-Dec 3126

    So I still have to pay the tax of Rs 5804.
    Under 234B for default, I think I have to pay interest of 1% for 3 months, i.e April, May and June
    Under 234C for defferement, I think I have to pay interest of 1% for 1 month, i.e March, since I was adherring to schedule for the periods ending in September and December

    I think my tax is 5804+174.12+58.04 = 6036.16
    Please confirm if my calculation is correct

    3. Due to some family issues, I could not file my return for the AY 2009-2010
    Can I file it online the same way I am filing this year for AY 2011-2012 ?

    4.I donot have any outstanding tax liability for AY 2009-2010, but only forgot to file my return.
    Is it sure that I still have to pay Rs 5000 as fine?

    Reply to Georgy

    • @Georgy
      1. For housing loan or income from house property, ITR 2 has to be filled. Last year, ITR 1 was also sufficient.
      2. Interest u/s 234B is to calculated if the payment of tax is after the last day of the previous year @ 1% per month on the net tax payable. So you will need to pay 1% per month for April, May and June.
      Interest u/s 234C is to be calculated if the advance tax hasn’t been sufficiently paid within the due dates. 30% of tax has to be submitted by Sep 15th, 60% by 15th Dec and 100% by March 15th. For the defeciency in march interest under 234C has to be charged @ 1% only.
      Your calculations are correct and you may file return online after depositing this tax amount.
      3. Yes you can file income tax return for 2009-10 now but IT department may put penalty for late filing. If they ask for it then you will have to pay it, else not.

      Reply to Pankaj

  15. Hello Sir,
    I paid my tax last year late on july 1.Yet ,I got a letter from income tax indicating that i havent paid my tax of 3000 rupees. How to resolve this issue. Why is it not reflected.how do I check my tax status if anything is due on my part.
    I have not been working since last year.do I need to file my income tax this year?

    Please help

    Reply to Srish

  16. Hi Pankaj,

    while filling 2011_ITR1 xls file –> what amount i have to enter? in the work sheet ‘TDS’ sl.no 24 “Details of Tax deducted at sourse other than salary” for column (5) “Amount out of (6) claimed for this year”,

    Reply to Rama

  17. hi pankaj,
    i am salaried person and my company has issued my form 16 with TDS details.All my savings proof and rent receipts were already submitted to my company in DEC. now i want to get the tax rebate on my education loan interest which i paid in march 2011. I have obtained loan account statement from my bank which has the interest paid details along with principle amount.

    so my question here is – at the time of filing IT return online can i mention it in the ITR-1 form and claim for tax refund ?do i need to send this interest paid proof details i.e the loan account statement to IT department ?

    thanks in advance

    Reply to S

    • @ S rai
      While file income tax return, you can claim deduction for education loan interest payment under section 80E.
      In ITR 1 form, Under ‘income details’ sheet, use Row 53 for same.
      No proof/statement needs to be attached with ITR form.

      Reply to Pankaj

  18. My employer didn’t consider LIC premium payment while doing TDS because I didn’t have reciepts. Now I have LIC reciept paid in Feb 2011.
    While e-filing the ITR-1 without digital signiture;
    1.Can I add LIC amount under 80C?2. Do I need to include original or duplicate (self-attested) copy of LIC recipt along with ITR-1,before posting it?Can the same procedure be followed for investment definitions such as Medical bills, health insurance reciepts?

    Reply to tuks

    • @Tuks
      You can claim deduction for LIC premium while filing income tax return too. In ITR-1 form, Use 5a section under Income details sheet for the same.
      No proof/copy of any sort need to be attached with income tax return. It won’t be accepted. Whatever you mentioned in form is considered true. In case IT department has any doubt they can raise a query.
      Medical bills reimbursement is a employer provided benefit and claim for same cannot be shown in ITR. There is no place to enter same.
      Medical insurance can be claimed for deduction under section 80D in ITR.

      Reply to Pankaj

  20. Hi Pankaj,

    I am salaried professional with 3.5 years of experience. I had filled ITR only for last year (2010-11) but not before that. Now I need that as I am going to take homeloan. So how can i fill ITR for the years which I missed? For both of the years (which i missed), my salary was below exemption limit.

    Reply to abhijit