Income tax return filing is a scheduled procedure of every taxpayer and has to be filed every year. The income tax return filing is also an essential process to be followed for various reasons including financial and record maintenance while beneficial for the future loan perspective.
What is an ‘e-Proceeding’?
It is an electronic platform made by the Income Tax department. The main purpose of this platform is to conduct proceedings from the beginning to the end that is in an ‘end to end’ manner. Income tax filling process have become more efficient and transparent because of this online portal.
Under the ‘e-proceeding’, you can view and check for all the notices/intimations/letters by the Income-tax department. You can file for responses along with uploading documents, under the same portal. These responses are then electronically viewed by the assessing officer in ‘Income Tax Business Application’. This electronic process of filling ITR saves time not only of the assessee but also of the department.
What are the Advantages of ‘e-Proceedings’?
- Risks such as loss of file or damage to files are avoided due to this portal.
- Eventually, the compliance burden on the taxpayer reduces and it also provides faster solutions to the taxpayer’s tax-related compliances.
- Since assessment proceedings are paperless, it makes this initiative an environment-friendly project.
- Taxpayers can access or view all the documents that they might have submitted during the assessment period. Through e-portal an individual can access complete information related to all the submissions any time which is saved in the e-Filing portal account for future reference.
Let’s Come to the Step by Step Procedure of ITR Filing
Document organization
The taxpayers will have to get all the documents of monetary value such as income, investments, assets, bank accounts apart from government documents like Permanent Account Number (PAN) and Aadhaar no. It is not necessary to attach these documents while filing ITR online but still an individual needs them to fill the form due to the details engraved on them.
Also, the documents related to income apart from salary, such as capital gains, rental income and divided income will also be needed while filing the IT online and it is also suggested that the taxpayers should maintain a distinct file of documents for every previous ITR filed.
Document Checklist for Filing ITR Online
The essential things that assessee would require to start with filing of ITR is important documents. Documents assessee would vary depending on the type of income he/she has:-
Personal Documents
- PAN Card
- Aadhaar card
- Details of domestic assets and liabilities
- Details of foreign assets
Income-related Documents
- Exempt income details which are earned during the year
- Form 16/16A/16B to fill the income details
- Balance sheet, statement of Profit & Loss account and other audit reports
- Details of Sales/Turnover/Gross Receipts during the year
Bank-related Documents
- Bank statement
- Interest statement of the year
- Details of all bank accounts kept during the year( IFSC code, account no., name and nature of account)
Tax-related Documents
- Copy of last year tax return
- TDS certificate
- Saving certificate or deduction
- Form 26AS to cross-check TDS details
Investment and Expense Related Documents
- Home loan statement to claim a deduction on Principal amount & interest
- Proof of investment such as mutual funds account statement
- Premium receipt for life insurance plans
- Premium of Medical insurance & preventive checkup receipts etc.
- Other documents such as proof of donation
Create ITR e-filing Account
After having all the desired and essential documents handy, an individual needs to log in to its ITR e-filing account through the income tax department’s website. The details like user ID (your PAN), password and CAPTCHA code will be needed for sign-in in the portal.
However, if a taxpayer is a first-time ITR filer than he/she may create ITR e-filing account on the same website with few other details.
Filling Out Details
The first details is Aadhaar no. which is mandatory to file ITR return online as the system would not allow the filing of return online without this information.
As per the expert, “Form for income tax return filling are seeking no. of new information like the break-up of salary and house property income to be furnished in ITR-1 form instead of a single amount of income or loss, as needed to be furnished earlier.”
E-verification of Returns & Uploading
The final step to file the ITR is to verify your details and upload it on the online portal. ITR window will remain open for 120 days to get your return verified after uploading the required documents. An Individual can also send a duly signed copy of ITR to the Central Processing Center tax department through speed post.