How to File ITR?

What are ITRs?

Income Tax Returns or ITR are specially designed tax filing forms to be filled by all taxpayers at the end of every financial year within the deadline issued by the Income Tax Department.

With the help of different types of ITRs, taxpayers disclose all the income and assets held to the Income Tax Department of India, which can determine the actual tax liability of the individual taxpayer, help them to apply for refunds if the actual tax liability of that individual is less than the tax paid by the individual, and also helps individuals to schedule tax payments. All the different sources of income are considered be it salary, capital gains, dividends, interests, income from foreign assets, or other sources in filing ITRs. There are seven different types of ITR, i.e., ITR-1, ITR-2, ITR-3, ITR-4, ITR-5, ITR-6, and ITR-7 applicable for different types of taxpayers depending upon their category, and income type.

How to file an Income Tax Return?

A step-by-step Guide on How to Login or Register on the e-filing Portal:

Step 1:  The first step is to visit the e-filing website https://www.incometax.gov.in/iec/foportal

Step 2: The second step is to go to ‘Downloads’ and download ITR 1 (Utility Excel Based) for all salaried employees. To know which ITR you have to file, read Types of ITR | Which ITR Should I File?

Step 3: The second step is to Register yourself on the portal to file your returns. In case you have already registered, choose the login option on the portal.

• In case you have registered yourself on the portal earlier, click on the ‘Login’ Here’ button.
• In case you have not registered yourself on the portal, click on the ‘Register’ Yourself’ button.

Step 4: On the login page, enter your Username and then click continue and then enter your Password.

Step 5: After logging in to the portal, Click on ‘e-File’ > ‘Income Tax Return’ and then click on ‘View Form 26AS’. Choose current year as Assessment Year and choose HTML as the viewing option.

Step 6: After that, Click on ‘e-File’ > ‘Income Tax Return’ and then click on ‘Download Pre-Filled Data’.

Step 6: Choose Current A.Y. on the next page and Click on ‘Download’ to download your Pre-Filled Data.

Step 7: Open ITR 1 (downloaded in Step 2) and click on ‘Import Prefill’. Choose the Pre-filled Data (downloaded in Step 6) and upload it. Your all personal information will be filled in automatically. The user should check all the details mentioned are correct.

Step 8: Fill in all the other details on the ITR 1 form (All the details that are still left are to be filled, take help from Form 26AS as well). The users should also fill in the details of their bank account. If the user has already provided the details of their bank account, then pre-validate it. After filling in all the details, Click on ‘Generate JSON’ and save the JSON file.

Step 9:  After saving the JSON file, Go back to the Income Tax Portal Click on the option ‘e-File’ > ‘Income Tax Return’ and then click on ‘File Income Tax Return’.

Step 10: The next window will ask you to choose the ‘Assessment Year’ for which you wish to file your Income Tax Returns. Select Filing type as 139(1) – Original Return and select ITR Type as ITR-1. After that, Click on Continue.

Step 11: The next window will ask the user to upload the JSON file. You need to upload the JSON file (Saved in Step 8). If the message on the screen says ‘Validation Successful’, it means your ITR has been successfully filed.