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.
Hi Pankaj,
I am filling income tax return form 2 (ITR-2) for short term capital gains from share trading. For the hard copy submission do i need to submit all the copies of digital contracts or transaction statement from the icicidirect is enough?
@Mohan,
No you don’t need to submit any document along with income tax return. Only declaration is enough for income tax department.
Hi Pankaj,
If i filed through online, what all the documents i need to submit, to support the declarations. (like LIC, trading statement etc)
Hi Pankaj,
Good day to you,This site is very informative I really appriciate you for providing such a good information.
I have Form 16A from my previous employes in which HRA and all the details were not included , how do i claim HRA from 16A and the present employer has give me form 16 where HRA and LIC policies were coverd.
My Question is I would like to claim HRA for the duration worked for my previous employeer and how can i calculate my tax by clubing both form 16A and form 16 for both the employers
@Ramu,
Please download the income tax calculator from here. You may use this to calculate your income tax liability and then you can fill the same figures in Income tax return.
Excellent links. strange but true that to know ward /circle only place mentioning the link was your website. keep it up pankaj.
Hi Pankaj,
I would like to get one information from you. It may be a repetition for you.
I had a income of well below of exemption limit for male ( < 150000) for year 2007-2008.
I had given IT on it as I did not show any investment.
But, I have not filed the IT return for that till date (for year 07-08). I read on some sites, that individual male having salary less than 150K need to file the IT return. I would like to know, is it true? and also if not filled, is there any consequence of that later?
Thanks in advance,
amit
@Amit,
Each PAN card holder should submit income tax return.
But in case its not done then income tax department can send a query and also for scrutiny, in which you have to show all documents, statements of all your accounts etc to prove yourself correct.
Hi,
i have form 16 with me with my salary and savings details. I have some capital gains from tradings, in ITR-2 where should i fill this gains? and how to pay tax for these gains?
If i filed through online, what all the hard copies i need to post (I don’t have digital signature)?
For trading gain details do i need to attaching the trading account statement or digital contracts?
@Satya,
For providing Capital Gain values, Use Sheet ‘CG-OS’ of ITR 2.
For paying tax, please refer to step 2 mentioned in above post.
Along with income tax return no hard copy of any kind of proof needs to be submitted.
Hi,
I have been told by some people that the ITR-V form that has to be mailed to the Bangalore address is not reaching there as the address does not exist.
Even the ITR-V sent by speed post is returned with a note of address not found.
Have you had any feedback on this?
Thanks,
Abhilash
@Abhilash,
ITR-V need not be sent by courier/registered/speed post. Its not a address but a post bag number so courier or speed post won’t deliver that.
Hi PB,
I know that you need to send it by normal post, but I have received feedback that the address is not a valid post box number.
Have you got any info about this?
Thanks,
Abhilash
@Abhilash,
I have also posted my return by simple post, but till yet I have not received any feedback or acknowledgment.
To assist taxpayers, a limited call center service with two agents has been established at Income Tax Department-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.
Hi Pankaj,
i have capital gains of only Rs. 600, do i need to show this also in income tax? if not shown any prob?
@Satya,
Even if you have capital gains of Rs 10, you should declare it in your income tax return.
There may not be any problem now but at a later stage in case you have a scrutiny call, they may ask for everything.
Hi Pankaj,
I had filled income tax return in the year 2005-06 in this year I have return money which i have already filled in ITR form but still didn’t receive my money ( I had given my account detail to cr. the money) I have checked the status of refund on https://tin.tin.nsdl.com/oltas/refundstatuslogin.html
so many times it is always saying
1. Your assessing officer has not sent this refund to Refund Banker.
2. If this refund has been sent by your Assessing Officer within the last week, you may wait for a week and again check status.
Would you suggest me how do I get my money back or to whom should i contact though i don’t know my assessing officer.
@Santosh,
You should file an RTI to income tax department.
pankaj from where can i gethe UTN number of ICICI Bank, New Delhi and Syndicate Bank,New Delhi. or can you help me in gettig the UTN number of these banks.
@Rekha,
UTN number is not required to be filled in income tax return form. Income tax department has already notified this.
Hi pankaj, Thank you very much for the information. And I have a query… I filed this year’s tax but I forgot to file the last years form-16. Can I do that now? How? – Sandeep
@Sandeep,
You can file last year income tax return now but you won’t be able to do it online for last year as 31st march was last date for same. Please file it offline.
I am also getting the same message that “Please select a Proper XML file for processing”. What to do? I was using ITR-1 Release 1e as well as 1c. Can anyone help…. Thanks.
@Murugan,
Please try after sometime as occasionally income tax site develops some issues.
Hi Pankaj,
I filed my returns electronically on July 12th and sent the verified (i.e. signed) ITR-V by ordinary post to Bangalore post box address on July 13th (last Monday). Till today, I have neither received email ack nor I can see the status of my returns as “Received” at their end. This morning, I decided to call up the 080-43456700 (available between 9:30AM and 6PM). After few tried I was able to speak to Abhishek. He confirmed that (as feared by me earlier as well) my mailed ITR-V has not reached them as yet. I asked him whether I should send another copy of ITR-V. He answered in affirmative. I also told him my frustration in IT department’s insistence that one should use only ordinary post. I told him that it does not protect me in case IT department claims that return (ITR-V) is not received by them. BTW, I do not know how critical or important is this step of sending/receiving/ack of ITR-V in this whole filing process. The reason (a) You have already paid all the tax, if applicable (b) All the data is already transmitted electronically – albeit without (so called safe) digital signature. Anyway, I told him to pass on my feedback which I am sure many other would agree as well that IT department should now accept return via registered/speed or courier as well. May be for this they will need to give another non PO Box address. As I am sure that Abhishek is not a decision maker, I asked him to pass this feedback to powers be at the earliest. I am sure that there are several others who would have and would be experiencing the same problem faced by me, pick up the phone and tell IT that they should accept ITR-V by registered/courier/speed post so that taxpayer is protected as well. Maybe they would change and accept our suggestion.
Pankaj, if you have any other suggestion please respond!
Thanks once again for excellent blog!!!
@Rajendra,
Thanks for the detailed update.
I fully agree with you that they should accept ITR-V through other mediums as well. Otherwise like other Govt offices, they will also be tagged as irresponsible and inefficient department.
I also want Govt to promote digital signatures and make the process easier with lower cost of getting a digi-sign. Companies like e-Mudhra are also making full use of tax filing time, they increased the cost of digital signature by four times from 6th July.
Govt should promote agencies who can provide digital signature at low cost.
All of us should write to [email protected] for all suggestions and feedback. May be there is a good guy who can understand the pain and concerns and can try for improvement of system.
I even sent a link of this page a week’s ago to the same email Id, so they can also read people’s voice about current issues with e-Filing, but nobody responded till yet.
Important::
Hi All,
To assist taxpayers, a limited call center service with two agents 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.
Call the helpline number to check your ITR-V receipt status.
Feel free to register your complaints and concerns about inefficient system. Also protest for accepting ITR-V only by ordinary post.
@Rajendra
I have had a similar feedback from people that I know. I work for a company that interacts with govt. departments in a regular basis and the “experts” in my company have told me that the PO Box address for Bangalore is not valid and people who have mailed in their ITR V should not look forward to receiving any response any time soon.
No speed post/courier delivery means that you can not be sure whether your package has reached the destination at all. This is really silly. If the govt. wants the post office to make some money out of this then they should have at least allowed speed post to a non-PO box address.
I have sent in my ITR V just yesterday. Lets see if I get any response.
I also have a question: Can the ITR V be hand delivered to the Bangalore IT office?
@Abhilash,
I don’t think that Bangalore IT office will accept ITR-V by hand. They have specifically mentioned to send it only through Ordinary Post.
I have also sent ITR-V on Monday, will wait for one week and then call them to check status.
Its pity that such a large Govt department don’t understand people’s concerns.
Thanks Pankaj for suggesting all the visitors to your blog to call the helpline number. As I can see that there were 6250 views (at the time of writing this) of this page. So there is considerable traffic attracted to this blog. I am sure if we ALL make a concerted effort by emailing and calling helpline to tell them our problems/issues, they will change.
Rajendra
@Rajendra,
I hope that people will call them after reading this post and help them Change for Good.
when trying to upload the xml file, i am getting below error.
The due date for IT Return of ReturnFileSec 11 for Assessment Year 2008 is only till 31-03-2009. Please contact DIT Administrator for further details
what should be done to avoid this error? i am trying to file individual returns for 2008-09.
@Sathish,
If you are filing return for Financial Year 2008-09, then you must select Assessment year as 2009-10.
In case you are filing return for previous year now, It can’t be done online as of now as last date for that was 31-03-2009.
hi pankaj,
you have provided excellent help…this is the best info page i could find on internet..
i am already a salaried employee..Also i earn some amount from shares…
in my free time i work for website http://www.topcoder.com like freelancer software developer.. the website people say that whatever service i am providing to them comes under “independent contractor service”..
so does this income come under head “income from other sources” or “income from business or profession”?
which ITR forms do i need to fill?
please help me…i am stucked..and it return filling last date is nearby..
thanks,
Amit Desai
@Amit,
As you also earn from other business/profession, you will have to fill ITR 4.
Thats so instant help..four more questions to make clear
1) i guess “independant contractor” has same meaning as “self-employeed”…is it correct?
2)although i understand your answer…just to confirm..independant contractor services comes under head “income from business or profession” and not under “income from other source”…is it true?
3)so what is tax rate for this income?
4)i get payment from paypal..so how can i show this transactions in income tax dept?
(Topcoder has provided me letter which states that they are paying this sum for service as independat contractor)
thanks,
Amit.
@Amit Desai,
1) Yes, independent contractor is same as self-employeed.
2) Yes, independent contractor services comes under head income from business or profession.
3) I don’t have much idea about taxation of income from business. I would recommend you to take help from any tax professional.
4) You can use PayPal transaction statement as a proof.