Income Tax Return: The deadline for filing ITR is near, stepwise understand the whole process

Income Tax Return: The last date to file Income Tax Return (ITR) for the financial year 2021-2022 or assessment year 2022-23 is July 31. The process of filing Income Tax Return (ITR) through the Internet is called e-filing. The process of e-filing ITR is quite simple and you can do it from the comfort of your home or office. An advantage of e-filing is that you can save money through it. Because for this you will not need to pay money to anyone else to file ITR.

ITR Filing: Step by Step Process

If you are going to file ITR, then here we have explained its complete process. Let us know how you can file ITR sitting at home with the help of internet.

Income Tax Return: Do not wait for the last date for ITR filing, these are the advantages of filing return first

Step 1: Calculation of income and tax

The taxpayer will be required to compute his income as per the provisions of the Income Tax Act applicable to him. In its calculation, income from all sources like salary, freelancing and interest income should be taken into account. Taxpayers can claim deductions like tax-saving investments under section 80C etc.

Step 2: Tax Deducted at Source (TDS) certificate and Form 26AS

The taxpayer should summarize his TDS amount from the TDS certificates received for all the 4 quarters of the financial year. Form 26AS helps the taxpayer with the TDS and tax paid during the financial year.

Step 3: Choose the correct income tax form

The taxpayer needs to find out the applicable Income Tax Form / ITR Form for filing his Income Tax Return. After locating the Income Tax Form, the taxpayer can proceed to file the Income Tax Return. There are 2 modes available for ITR filing – online and offline. Online mode from taxpayer’s login is available only for ITR 1 and ITR 4; This is not available for forms of other categories of individual taxpayers. Offline mode (XML Generating and Uploading) is available for all types of Income Tax Forms.

Step 4: Download ITR utility from Income Tax Portal

Go to the website http://www.incometax.gov.in and click on ‘Downloads’ from the top menu bar.

Select the assessment year and download offline utility software, ie Microsoft Excel or Java, or JSON utility, depending on your preference. Excel and Java utility has been discontinued by the Income Tax Department from AY 2020-21.

Step 5: Enter your details in the downloaded file.

After downloading the offline utility, fill in your income details, and check the tax payable or refund as per the utility’s calculations. Income tax challan details can be filled in the downloaded form.

Last date to file return is different for every taxpayer, check what is the deadline in your case

Step 6: Validate the entered information

You can see some buttons on the right side of the downloaded form. Click on the ‘Validate’ button to ensure that all the required information has been filled.

Step 7: Convert the file to XML format.

After successful validation, click on the ‘Generate XML’ button on the right side of the file to convert the file to XML file format.

Step 8: Upload the XML file to the Income Tax Portal.

Now, login to the Income Tax e-filing portal and click on the ‘e-File’ tab to select the ‘Income Tax Return’ option.

Fill the required details like PAN, assessment year, ITR form number and submission mode. In the field name ‘Submission Mode’ given in the image below, select the option ‘Upload XML’ from the drop down.

Now, attach the XML file to your computer and click on the Submit button.

Step-9 Verify the tax return.

After filing the Income Tax Return, you will get Acknowledgment (ITR-V) by the Income Tax Department on SMS and Email. You can verify your income tax return through net banking, Aadhaar OTP. Also, by signing the Acknowledgment, you can send it through CPC, Income Tax Bangalore post.

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