The last date to file your income tax return (ITR) for the financial year 2018-19 has been extended from the 31st of July to the 31st of August, 2019. To file ITR, you must first register yourself on the e-filing website of the income tax department. Citizens with income exceeding Rs. 2.5 lakh are required to file tax returns before the due date.

Steps to register online for e-filing income tax return:

  • Visit the income tax e-filing website: https://www.incometaxindia.gov.in
  • Click on ‘Register Yourself’ on the top right hand side
  • Select the type of user for income tax e-filing website registration. Taxpayers can choose options like individual, partnership, company, or trust
  • Provide basic details of the taxpayer for whom the income tax account is being created. The details to be entered are:PAN (this is your User ID for e-Filing website)Name (Surname, Middle name and First name or Organisation Name in case of Non-Individuals)Date of Birth /Date of IncorporationEmailMobilePhone (not required for Non-Residents)  
  • Once the above details are submitted an email will be sent for verification of the taxpayers email address. Complete the email verification and enter the following details including password to be used for income tax e-filing website and click on submit:Password (This is the password that you will use to access the website)Personal Details/ Principal Contact DetailsContact DetailsCurrent AddressSubscribe to Mailing ListEnable Alerts, reminder and notificationsCaptcha  
  • On submission of the above details, the taxpayer will receive a message, ‘Registration successful’. Also, an email will be sent to the taxpayer along with an activation link and a SMS with OTP.To activate the income tax e-filing account, click on the activation link sent through email and enter the OTP received by SMS. On successfully completing the above steps, the income tax e-filing website will be activated for income tax e-filing.

There are four forms applicable to different income groups for filing tax returns. Here’s the breakdown of which form number is applicable for which purpose:

Form No. ITR-1 SAHAJ
For individuals being a resident (other than not ordinarily resident) having total income up to Rs.50 lakh, having Income from Salaries, one house property, other sources (Interest etc.), and agricultural income up to Rs. 5000.

Form No.:ITR-2: For Individuals and HUFs not having income from profits and gains of business or profession

Form No.:ITR-3: For individuals and HUFs having income from profits and gains of business or profession

Form No.:ITR-4 Sugam
For Individuals, HUFs and Firms (other than LLP) being a resident having total income upto Rs.50 lakh and having income from business and profession which is computed under sections 44AD, 44ADA or 44AE

Steps to file ITR online

  • Collect TDS certificates (Form 16/16A), salary slip, interest certificates. Form 16 is a TDS certificate given by your employer, if tax is deducted from your salary income. Similarly, your bank is required to issue Form-16A for TDS deducted on interest payment to you on fixed deposits.
  • Check form 26 AS. Form 26 AS gives an overall view of your income tax deducted in a particular financial year at various sources of income like tax deducted on commission income, tax deduction on interest received from Fixed deposits, tax deducted on salary, etc.  It also contains the details of income tax refunds that you have received from your tax department during financial year.
  • Check for errors in form 26 AS. If the amounts shown in form 16, 16A and 26AS do not match, you need to check with your employer, bank or others to check and deduct the correct amount.   
  • After successfully filing ITR, it is mandatory to verify the income tax return using Aadhaar OTP or netbanking.   
  • In case online verification is not feasible, then the signed acknowledgement (ITR-V) needs to be sent to the Central Processing Centre (‘CPC’) of the Income-tax department, within 120 days of filing the tax return.

The income-tax department has introduced a levy of penalty of Rs 5,000 for delay up to December in filing of tax return. The deadline to file your income tax return has been extended to 31st August, 2019.