Planning To File Income Tax Online? Follow These Steps As Deadline Is Just A Few Days Away

If you are a salaried person and your income is beyond a specific income slab, you will have to pay tax to the Indian Government every year. According to the slab system, income tax will be levied accordingly from individual to individual. In the tax slab, varying tax rates are specified for varying income ranges. According to Income Tax Act provisions, last date to file ITR by the taxpayers for FY 2021-22 is July 31, 2022.

If you earn high, your income tax will be high too and vice-versa. Tax rate does not remain the same with a change in the income of the individual. It leads to progressive and impartial tax systems in an economy. Such tax slabs undergo a change with every budget annually.

The slab rates also differ for different categories of taxpayers. There are three categories of individual taxpayers in India. The first category belongs to individuals below 60 years of age that may include residents and non-residents. The second category belong to resident senior citizens between the age of 60 to 80 years, and the third category belongs to resident super senior citizens more than 80 years of age.

No changes in income tax slab for FY21-22

The central government decided to not to introduce any changes in the income tax slab for FY 2020-21 and carry it on to the new FY 2021-22 barring one change. An exemption was introduced in the new slab. As per the latest slab, citizens above the age of 75 depending mainly on their pension and income interests stay exempted from filling out the tax returns. In their scenario, TDS or tax deducted of source will be automatically deducted by banks.

How to fill income tax?

Gone are the days when income tax filing was full of paperwork and long queues. Now with the introduction of online tax filing known as e-filing, tax payers can easily file returns without facing any trouble of venturing outside at the earliest. Given below are steps that you may follow to file your income tax returns:

Step 1: Log onto the portal www.incometaxindiaefiling.gov.in to file returns online. Now register with the help of your PAN (Permanent Account Number) that will also serve as the use ID.

Step 2: Now under the option "Download", visit e-filing under the specific assessment year and choose the proper Income Tax Return (ITR) form. Now download ITR-1's (Sahaj) return preparation software if you happen to be a salaried individual

Step 3: You have to enter details in Form 16 in step 3. Open the Return Preparation Software (excel utility) that you have downloaded, follow instructions, and fill relevant details from your Form 16.

Step 4: Compute Tax Payable, pay tax and fill appropriate challan details in the tax return. In case you do not have a tax liability, you may forgo this step.

Step 5: This step will require you to confirm all the above details. You have to confirm all the details filled so far and create an XML file that will be automatically saved on your computer.

Step 5: Now visit the "Submit Return" option and upload the XML file.

Step 6: You will need to digitally sign the file when asked. In case of no digital signature, you may forego this step.

Step 7: You will get a message confirming successful e-filing on your computer screen. The acknowledgement form namely ITR verification is produced and it can be downloaded. It will be emailed to your registered e-mail address.

Step 8: You may also e-verify the return through any one of the six modes namely a) Netbanking, b) Bank ATM, C) Aadhaar OTP, d) Bank Account Number, e) Registered Mobile Number and e-mail id. E-verification will remove the requirement of sending a physical copy of the ITR-5 acknowledgement to CPC, Bengaluru.

Conclusion

It is significant that you file your ITR in a timely manner to avoid any penalties. After filing the ITR, the income tax verification form will be produced by the Income Tax Department and it will help taxpayers verify the validity and legitimacy of e-filing. It will remain applicable when you have filed your returns without doing a digital signature. Government of India collects income tax by three means namely a) voluntary payments made by persons into various designated banks in the form of advance tax and self-assessment tax, b)TDS on behalf of tax payers and Tax Collected at Source and, c) (TCS) from certain transactions from tax payers at the time of spending.