What is E-Preparation of Income Tax Return?
E-Preparation of IT Return is the process of preparing your Income Tax Return using a software.
The E-Preparation software can be of 2 types: 
A. Manual Calculation:
Those that allow you to enter your Income Tax data but do not calculate the Income Tax & Refund etc. The individual user needs to calculate the above himself/herself
B. Auto Calculation:
Those that take the Income Tax related data that you have entered to automatically calculate the Income Tax and Refund using their inbuilt tax calculation engine that is updated for current rules
Auto Calculation Software is more efficient and less prone to calculation errors.
What is E-Filing of Income Tax Return?
E-Filing of IT Returns is the process of electronically submitting your Income Tax Return to the Income Tax Department.
This electronic submission can be done in one of the following ways:
A. Manually :
Where you take the output of the software in XML or non-XML format , convert to XML in case of the latter and upload it to the Income Tax Website.
B. Automatically:
Providers that are Authorized E-Return Intermediaries of ITD, are integrated with the Income Tax Department and authorized to E-File your Income Tax Return. Such providers allow you to E-File your return with a click of a button.
XML upload is tedious and user may run into issues for incorrect format or validation error.
How do I sign my Income Tax Return when I E-File?
An ITR is an important document and the individual to whom it belongs needs to sign it – Manually or Digitally to affirm that (s)he has reviewed it and is the one who is officially submitting the ITR.
An IT Return can be signed in the following ways when it is being E-filed:
A. Digitally :
Use digital signature, in which case no further action is required. An acknowledgment of filing is provided instantly after submission.
B. Without Digital Signature (paper signature):
You can E-File without digital signature, in which case ITR-V form is to be physically signed & filed with the department’s Bengaluru office .ITR-V is a single page receipt cum verification form that is sent to the assessee via an e-mail from ITD.
Benefits of E-filing ITR
E-filing is easy, fast, and the most reliable and secure method
- Fast Processing: The acknowledgment of ITR submission is fast and the refunds are processed faster by the ITD for E-Filed ITRs.
- More Accurate: E-Filing software with built-in validations and electronic connectivity to ITD are seamless and help minimize errors. Paper based filing with self calculations can be prone to error. Also, when any paper based form is transferred to electronic system , there is always a possibility of human error in data entry.
- No Time place constraint: You can file anytime, anywhere. E-Filing is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week , so taxpayers may always file at their own convenience.
- More Secure than Paper based filing: E-filing is safer than paper based filing. With paper based filing your confidential identity information is lying in files and can be passed from person to person in the CA’s office or in ITD’s office.
- You can easily access and use your data for future returns: Most of the paid E-filing software applications store your data in a secure manner and allow you to access it whenever you are ready to file subsequent returns.
- It is good for the environment: E-Filing is environment friendly. You just need to print no or at most one page instead of multiple copies of multiple pages that is required in case of paper based filing.
How to select an E-filing Software
| Attribute | Low End | High End |
| Tax Calculation | You calculate yourself | Automatically Calculated |
| ITR generation | PDF file for manual submission in local ITD Office Only or XML | Direct transmission* to ITD |
| Data Transmission to ITD | You upload XML | Automatically transmitted* |
| Support to end users | No Support provided or minimal support provided | Support Staff can be accessed via email, chat or phone 24*7 |
| Security | Limited | Over 128 Bit SSL to protect your confidential Information |
| Storage of past ITR | Not Provided | Provided so that you may import your previous ITRs data |
* Provided by ITD Authorized E-Return Intermediary Only
Thanks for the great article Pankaj. I want to start a Tax Consultancy that files returns for individuals, HUF, property etc. So, what’s your advice, resources etc? I’m digging through your site for more resources anyway, but do tell me what more I can do.
i am manoj khandelwal…in F.Y 2009-01 i have received professional fees in South Africa. and tax paid to South Africa’s Govt…
i am Resident in india..so what tax treatmaent in A.Y 2010-11..??
@Manoj
If you have stayed in India for more than 180 days in FY 2009-10, all income earned abroad are also taxable in India.
India has Double Taxation Prevention Treaty with South Africa, so can file for income tax refund there for the tax paid.
I stay and work in Kolkata India. I stay in a rented accommodation and hence claim exemption againt HRA (under Sec-10).
I am also paying EMI against a property that I have booked, although I havent taken possesion of the same. The EMIs are paid against a loan taken from HDFC.
My question is : Can I claim for tax benefit for BOTH (a) HR paid and (b) the Interest paid against my loan?
@Debabrata
1. Benefits of home loan interest and principal cannot be availed before possession of property.
2. In case your owned property (on which loan has been taken) and your office are not in same city or not at a commutable distance, then you can avail benefit of both HRA and home loan.
i have downloaded ITR 1. and filled offline also , but when i am converting it to XML its says, file is password protected. and i don’t know the password as it was downloaded from direct income tax department official file
@Dev
Before generating XML, you will have to enable macro in Microsoft Excel, or if you see a security warning above document, enable that.
Pankaj, I always eagerly wait for new articles from you. Thanks for sharing it!
I have one question. Not able to get appropriate answer. Can you help me?
For AY 2010-11, last year,
I had asked an agent to file my return. Today, when I check, I do not
have acknowldegement of ITR-V for AY 2010-11. I am not sure if the
agent has filed the return or not. Now, his contact details might have
changed, so can not ask him. I checked in indian government e-file
website, where I found that it is not e-filed. Now, only thing need to
know whether it was paper filed or not.
Can you please help me on this how to find this?
Also, if filed, how to get duplicate copy of ITR-V acknowledgement?
Thanks,
Ashish
@Ashish
In case of physical submission of income tax return, acknowledgment is provided at the same time by giving a stamped copy of return.
Offline submission cannot be tracked online.
You will have to contact your agent to get your stamped return copy. Else you can contact your assessing officer for providing an assessment statement.
Thanks Pankaj. What is assessment statement? Is it different from the ITR-V ack.
Also, I stay in Pune while agent was based at Nagpur who filed the return. Does that mean I have to travel to Nagpur to collect the document? Also, does assessing officer sit in same place where physcal retuns are filed or he sits elsewhere?
@Ashish
Assessment statement is different from ITR-V. Its generated when assessment is completed by income tax department. Its shows whether income tax calculation declared by you is matching as that by IT department and if any refund/demand is payable. It is intimation under section 143(1).
You can call and ask agent to send you return copy by post/courier.
Where return was filed, only agent will be able to tell and assessing officer sits on IT office under which jurisdiction you come, check you jurisdiction here: https://incometaxindiaefiling.gov.in/portal/common.do?screen=jurisdiction
I uploaded the xml and later realized that I did not click on Createbarcode. What is best way of correcting it.
@Gangesh
There is no need to generate barcode, It automatically comes in ITR-V file.
Thank you.I got the acknowledgement today and Barcode is there.
Hi Pankaj,
Your site is very interesting.I have one question.
My income is less than 5 lacks for 2010-2011.So is it mandatory to file the IT returns.If so, do i need to do before July 31st only?
And my husband paid tax greater than what he needs to pay for 2010-2011.So for him also is it mandatory to pay before July 31st only.Will there be any fine if we file after July 31st.Please answer me ASAP as there is less gap for July 31st.
@Rajyalaxmi
Individuals having total income up to Rs.5,00,000 for FY 2010-11, after allowable deductions, consisting of salary from a single employer and interest income from deposits in a saving bank account up to Rs.10,000 are not required to file their income tax return. Such individuals must report their Permanent Account Number (PAN) and the entire income from bank interest to their employer, pay the entire tax by way of deduction of tax at source, and obtain a certificate of tax deduction in Form No.16.
If above is your case, you need not to file income tax return.
Persons receiving salary from more than one employer, having income from sources other than salary and interest income from a savings bank account, or having refund claims shall not be covered under the scheme.
If your husband needs refund, he should file income tax return before 31st July only. In case one does not have any more tax pending to be paid, or have no refund may file before end of assessment year (31st March) without any penalty.
Hi Pankaj,
There is a recent notification from Govt that, people do not have to file income tax return if the taxable income is less than 5lks.
I wish to take a home loan this year & my taxable income is less than 5lk. Don’t I have to file ITR actually? Would the bank release loan for me with my form-16 only?
Please suggest..
Thanks,
Pranab Biswal
Gurgaon, India
@Pranab
As per new Govt rules, People with less income than 5 lacs (from one employer only and bank interest less than 10,000) may skip filing income tax return.
But you may still file it in case you want to avail home loan in near future as bank may ask for last 2-3 years ITR copy along with form-16.
Hi Pankaj,
I have uploaded the xml and later realized that by mistake I have filled wrong information, now how to re-submit the correct XML.I have tried with revised option in excel but during uploading it is throwing error revised only can fill under143(1). Now how to re-submit the correct XML.
@Amit
You can file a revised return by filling same excel sheet ITR and generating XML.
You will have to choose return type as revised and section for filing as 139(5) in excel.
Hi Pankaj,
I have choose return type as revised and section for filing as 139(5) in excel, the XML uploaded successfully.
Thanks a lot for your valuable support.
Amit
I have received interest statement from bank but it doesn’t have any TAN number of Bank. How do I specify the interest earned details for ITR1 online form.
@AnilK
If bank have deducted any TDS, then they will issue Form-16A, which will have TAN number.
But if your interest was less than 10000 in year, bank may not have deducted tax. In this case, you will have to add interest income to your taxable salary, compute tax and pay this extra tax yourself in form of self assessment tax.
In ITR1, interest can be shown in ‘income from other sources’ section.
Hi Pankaj,
Thanks for your advice on how to specify the interest earned on ITR1.
Anil
Hi Pankaj ,
I have made some investments on march 25 which is not considered for tax exemption.Also I have some medical claims.Now while filing this ITR where and how do I mention that investment/claims? If I able to do that in the excel then do I need to send the proof and docs to the banglore center along the form ?
I have filled in the relevant details in the excel but all the buttons like validate,generate are still disabled.I have enabled the macros and activx controls as per the help given in the download zip.Any idea ?
Thanks,
Amol
@Amol
Investments under 80-C, 80-D etc can be claimed while filing income tax return too, But medical reimbursements is a employer provided benefit and cannot be claimed in ITR.
No proof/document needs to be sent to IT department.
Buttons gets enabled only when macro is enabled, please check it again at your end.
i have entered wrong email id during regestrastion process. how i correct it…….
@Naresh
Call or email IT department call center, Aayakar Sampark Kendra (ASK) on 0124-2438000 or [email protected]
Pl.advise me end use of Form15G and 15H at Income tax department. Is there any check and balance or verification/cross check through on line in Income tax office.
@KK Sharma
For 15G and 15H has to be deposited to bank for avoiding TDS deduction by bank.
If you want to know whether bank has still deducted tax or not, you can check same in Form26AS on https://incometaxindiaefiling.gov.in/portal/form26ASInfo.do
Today is 2nd August,2011. Can we still send e-return as 3 of us were on tour and could no able to file e-return by 31st July,2011.
@Anita
Yes, you can file return now as well. It can be filed before 31st March, without any penalty.
If any tax is pending, interest may be applicable under 234A, B and C.
Can you tell us the procedure of efiling step-by-step and the cost of digital signature per individual. If there are 600 employees in the Office, then it will be very risky for any office to take digial signature for every individuals or the cost to be beared by individual only.
@Anita
You can read detailed procedure about step-by-step efiling on this page: http://www.pankajbatra.com/india/file-income-tax-return-online-yourself/
There is no need to file with digital signature for individuals. It can be done w/o that too, only ITR-V needs to be sent to IT department after filing.
Hi Pankaj,
For the AY09-10, I had two form16. I submitted the first compan’s form16 to the second company, hence their form16 had the income I got from first company. But while filing the return, I added income from both form16, and due to that first company’s income was shown twice. I noticed the mistake only last week when I filed the return online for AY11-12. Income Tax site shows a Tax demand of 50K for AY09-10 (Actually I had a refund of 5K as per form16, if I had filed correctly).
I searched my mailbox and I could see a mail from IT dept sent on 02/09/10 asking to pay tax [“INCOME TAX INTIMATION U/S. 143(1)”]. I browsed couple of sites which says that the revised return file if any should have been done on or before 31/Mar/2011.
Please help me on this. Can I file a revised return now. If yes which option to choose in the excel for “return filed under section”. Any other way like sending a mail to IT dept will help on this.
Thanks,
Amith
@Amith
You should try filing a revised return under section 139(5). I am not sure whether it will be considered or not as one year from assessment year have ended too. And also its been 11 months since intimation has been received.
There are different sections. Please read below for explanation of each:
u/s 139(1) : Voluntarily/original return. Most of the time it will be used as it caters to original return. Return filed within due date (31st July of Assessment year)
u/s 139(4) : Belated return filing. Original return filed after due date (After 31st July of Assessment year) Or return filed after notice from income tax department within time provided in notice under section 142(1).
u/s 139(5) : Revised return. In case some correction needs to be done in original return filed u/s 139(1) or after notice issued by IT department for correction. Time frame is within one year from end of assessment year or before the assessment is completed, whichever is earlier.
u/s 142(1), u/s 148 and u/s 153A/153C : Notice is issued by IT department under this section.
Other solution may be to go and meed your assessing officer and explain your case.
Hi Pankaj,
Which ITR form I should fill to avail the benefit of Home Loan interest exemption?
Regards,
Ravindra
@Ravindra
For home loan interest exemption, You can even file ITR1 if you only have income from salary/bank interest/rental income.
You may also file ITR2.
Hello Pankaj,
Your posts are very informative and help a lot to people.
I have a query. I have e-filled my return for AY 2011-12 on 25th of July and sent ITR V to Bangalore through ordinary post. I waited till 13th Aug and still the status of ITR V is showing as not received. So I sent it again on 16th Aug with speed post but when I checked status again on the same day..it’s showing received ITR V now, I want to know, if it would create problem for further processing or not. I got to know status from website but did not receive any mail regarding the same from them yet.
Thanks
Krishna
@Krishna
Duplicate receiving of ITR-V should not create any issue. And sometime emails are not sent due to server issues. If its showing received in IT website login, its should be fine enough.