If you haven't filed your income-tax returns (ITR) already, you better hurry up--the last date is only a cou- ple of weeks away. A quick and efficient way would be to e-file your returns. In fact, the whole process takes just about 20 minutes.
E-filing is picking up in a big way and possibly will be the only way to file returns in the future. The income-tax depart- ment has already made it man- datory for companies to e-file their returns. And, experts say that in a few years, it may be- come mandatory for individu- als, too. So, the earlier you start, the better. While char- tered accountants remain the most popular mode to file re- turns, most of them would e- file returns on your behalf.
What is e-filing As the name suggests, e-fil- ing means filing your ITR on- line. E-filing is as easy as pay- ing your utility bills online, booking a ticket through a trav- el portal or doing Internet banking. If you can do the lat- ter, the former won't be too tough.
Where can you e-file To assist you, there are vari- ous tax portals. You simply reg- ister with them and fill in your details in the relevant ITR form available electronically. The portal does the rest for you.
The service, of course, comes at a cost, usually nominal.
The first step is to register yourself with a tax portal. Once you have registered, most sites will throw up the options of “basic“ and “advance“; a few sites also provide “profession- al“ packages.
The basic package is for sala- ried individuals, pensioners, those having interest income from dependants, agriculture, house property, capital gains and other sources. The forms they would need are ITR-1 (Saral 2) and ITR-2.
The advance package is for all the above mentioned cate- gories. The additional facility they give is a review by tax con- sultants, who detect errors in your returns and help you cor- rect them. You also get tax planning advice for future. Some portals have a product especially designed for busi- nessmen and professionals, such as doctors and consult- ants. All portals let you to sub- mit multiple Form 16s from dif- ferent employers. Just in case you missed filing returns in preceding years, you can also do that through these portals.
How to e-file Form filling: Gather all rele- vant documents, such as Form 16, those supporting income from other sources and invest- ment proofs through which you avail deduction. You would need these when filling up your relevant ITR form.
You would be required to give details, such as your full name, address, permanent ac- count number, your total sala- ry, the amount of deduction you have availed, among other things, in a digital format.
Since this form is standard- ized across all portals, it's easy to fill. Most portals have an op- tion, wherein they provide step-by-step guidance. Almost all of them have helpline num- bers in case you need assis- tance, and a few of them even offer the facility of live webchat to clear all doubts.
Keying in these details can be cumbersome at times, espe- cially because a few tax portals tend to be slow. In fact, there is a way out if even if you do not want to take the trouble of key- ing in the numbers yourself.
Some portals allow you to email a scanned copy of your Form 16 and other documents and fill the form on your be- half.
Preview: The tax portals un- derstand that typos are possi- ble when so many numbers are involved. Therefore, there is preview option. Once you have filled up the form, you will get an option to review your ITR form. In fact, the software even detects mismatch in numbers and prompts accordingly.
Final submission: You pay the portal online. Once your payment goes through, the portal emails you the ITR form in a digital format (XML file), which you need to upload on the income-tax department's website (www.incometaxin- dia.gov.in) after registering with it. The site will show an acknowledgement receipt (ITR Form-V). Download it and take a printout. This printout needs to be affixed with your signa- ture and posted to the income- tax department, Bangalore within 30 days of e-filing. Once you receive a confirmation from the department, your e- filing is complete.
Digital signature: If you do not want to post the form to the I-T department, you have the option of signing ITR Form-V digitally. Digital signature is an electronic signature that au- thenticates your identity and your documents to the I-T de- partment. To obtain it, you need to pay an extra fee to the portal you are using.
If you want a refund: If you are entitled to a tax refund, you need to fill up the required de- tails in the ITR form. You would either have to provide your bank details or request payment by cheque. Once ap- proved by the I-T department, the refund amount is directly credited to your bank account if you have mentioned your bank details. Otherwise, you will receive a cheque in due course.
If you owe some tax: In this case, you need to visit www.tin-nsdl.com, select the required chalan and make a payment through Internet banking. Once you receive a chalan identification number, acknowledging your payment, your taxes are paid.
Word of caution Don't forget that whenever you share sensitive financial information, you carry an in- herent risk. Ensure that the portal you choose is an author- ized e-return intermediary from the I-T department. Usu- ally, such details are men- tioned on the website. Always check for the security certificate and use the same amount of caution as you would have used while banking on the Net.
For those who do wish to e- file taxes, but do not want to use a portal, you can visit https://incometaxindiaefiling.
gov.in/portal/index.do, I-T de- partment's e-filing site. And it's free.
The biggest advantage of do- ing it yourself is that you get in- volved in your own financial life.
For those who are hard-pressed for time or simply prefer the tra- ditional way of doing things, re- lying on a chartered accountant is always an option.