How to file your income tax returns online

BANGALORE, INDIA: With the last date for filing the income tax returns — July 31 — fast approaching, income tax payers are in the lookout for various ways to make the process simpler and escape the long queues.

Of course, the best way to save your time and energy is the online platform, where you can e-file the income tax returns.

Though electronic filing of income-tax returns is optional for individuals, the Income Tax Department says that more and more people are opting for this platform and in near future, paper filing would be almost nil. This year, it expects more than 50 per cent I-T returns to be e-filed.

Considering the increased use of e-filing, the Income Tax Department has made the process much simpler, with the help of IT giant Infosys, which is providing technology backbone for the process.

30 minutes to complete the filing process

The service, available on the I-T Department's e-filing website (www.incometaxindiaefiling.gov.in) is for free, and takes around 30 minutes to complete the filing process.

After registering on the website, you can download the required software and then fill in the tax returns in the excel spreadsheet format, which can later be converted into an xml format. Once that is done, you may upload this file on the I-T Department website affixing your digital signature.

If you don’t have a digital signature, you can take a printout of the form ITR-V generated on the uploading of the .xml file, sign it and dispatch it to the centralized processing centre (CPC) in Bangalore. The ITR-V form is the electronic proof of the tax filing.

E-filing may help you get your refunds faster

With e-filing, the process is much faster and thus you may also get the refunds faster compared to the manual process.

In order to avail this facility, one should have a bank account with net-banking facility, and your bank should be among the banks that provide e-payment. If you want to verify this, you can contact your bank or check the list of banks providing this facility, which is available on NSDL-TIN website.

So, before logging in, make sure that you have all the required documents ready with you, which include your TDS certificate, tax saving investment details, rent receipts as also the PAN card.

Finally, if you are still apprehensive about e-filing, the manual option is still open for you.