Electronic tax filing
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E-Filing in US
Electronic tax filing (or e-filing) is a process where tax documents are submitted to the Internal Revenue Service through the internet or direct connection, usually without the need to submit any paper documents. Tax preparation software with e-filing capabilities are available as stand alone programs or through websites or tax professionals from major software vendors for commercial use.
Of the 139.3 million U.S. returns filed in 2007, 79.98 million or about 57.4 percent were filed electronically.
History
The IRS started electronic filing in 1986 to lower operating costs and paper usage. E-filing originally used the processing system developed in 1969 by the IRS, but since 2003, the IRS has been developing a new enhanced processing system, CADE.
E-Filing IT Returns in India
From 2008 onwards, You need to file your returns using ITR (Income Tax Return) forms. There are totally 8 ITR forms namely ITR1, ITR2, ITR3, ITR4, ITR5, ITR6, ITR7, ITR8. Only the first four are for Individuals. Remaining four are for firms/companies. ITR-1 (Download ITR1) form is to be filled by Individuals having income only from salary. IF you are paying housing loan and have no income other than Salary, you will have to file your return in ITR-2 (Download ITR2). If you are getting any income from House/Property/Shares, you need to fill ITR-2 and/or ITR-3 (Download ITR3) and/or ITR-4 (Download ITR4). For more info on which form you need to fill check out the various ITR forms available & their descriptions at the website and also QUESTIONS RELATED TO FORMS.
Below are the steps to File your IT returns online.
- 1) Go to https://incometaxindiaefiling.gov.in/portal/downloads.do and download the “Return Preparation Software”/”Excel Utility” for the appropriate ITR form. The Return Preparation Software is nothing but a zipped excel sheet (say ITR1_2008_09_R1j.zip which contains file ITR1_2008_09_R1j.xls) with some macros. Note that the Assessment Year 2008-09 implies the Financial Year 2007-08 i.e, Your income for the last FY is being assessed in the current FY/AY. Unzip and extract the excel sheet.
- 2) Open the excel sheet with macros enabled. If the macros are not enabled then the buttons in the excel sheet like , , will not work. To enable the macros, open your excel sheet & Go to “Tools” -> “Macro” -> “Security..” and select the ‘Security Level’ as ‘Medium’ and click . Now close & re-open the excel sheet. You will see a Security Warning with two buttons and . Click on .
- 3) You are now ready to start filling your excel sheet. You need to fill only the cells that are GREEN in colour (especially the fields that are marked in RED are mandatory). Place the cursor on each green cell to know about it or to know what to fill i.e., to see the comments. The excel sheet for ITR-1 has three tabs namely GENERAL, GENERAL2, TDS. After you have filled each tab, click on button to validate your inputs and correct if there are any errors. Most of the details are available in your Form-16. The details must be in caps (even if you type small letters, it will automatically get converted to capital letters as macros are enabled).
- Note 1: The MICR (Magnetic Ink Character Recognition) CODE is available on your cheque book or call your bank’s customer care to find it. The MICR CODE of other Banks/Branches can be obtained from the below link
- Note 2: There is a field in the excel sheet asking for Designation of Assessing Officer (Ward/Circle). This can be found:
- in the following link: http://www.incometaxbangalore.org/jurisdiction/juri_indiv_sal_blr.htm - For companies in Bangalore (or)
- Login to your account in the IT website, Go to “My Account” -> “My Jurisdiction”.
- Note 3: INCOME CHARGEABLE UNDER THE HEAD ‘SALARIES’ (Point 6 of Page 2 in Form-16) = Gross Salary - Allowances (Like House Rent Allowance, Transport Allowance etc) - Professional Tax (all per annum).
- 4) Once you are done with all the tabs & the button returns ok for all the tabs, You need to click . A new tab Pre-XML Check will be created with a table as shown below and a button:
| Validate data before generating XML | No of entries |
|---|---|
| TDS on Salary | 1 |
| TDS on Interest | 0 |
| Tax Payments | 0 |
You need to click on all the links mentioned in the “first column of the table” and verify that the no. of rows you entered is the same as being shown in the “second column of the table”. If the no. of rows you entered is correct, then click on the button. A xml file (say ITR1_<your PAN #>) will be saved in the same location where your excel sheet is present.
- 5) Now go back to the website & Register from the right panel (if you are not yet registered). Give your PAN no. as your user id followed by a password, e-mail id etc and complete the registration process. You will receive a confirmation mail to the e-mail id mentioned.
Note 4: While registering, if you are facing any issue, Try to give the First Name, Middle Name, Surname AS PRINTED ON YOUR PAN CARD or call the customer care at 124-2438000.
- 6) Login with your userid (PAN #) & password. Click on Submit return from the left panel. Click and Upload the xml file being generated. If the upload fails, then the xml file is not generated properly which might be due to some improper inputs in the excel sheet. (You can know if the xml file got generated properly or not by opening it in Internet Explorer (or any browser). If there is any error in the excel sheet that is not caught by the button, it will be reported in the Internet Explorer. Correct it and re-generate your xml file.)
- 7)If the upload is successful and IF:
- you don’t have a Digital Signature, an “ITR-V” form (in pdf format) will be generated and saved in “My Account” -> “My Returns”, which you need to print and submit in the INCOME TAX OFFICE (TDS) within 15 days and before 31 July.
- you have a digital signature, an Acknowledgement will be generated which you can save for future reference and you need not submit any hard copy at the IT office.
TIPS:
- Checkout the articles in the HELP section of the website like How to eFile, ppt presention on eFiling, Flash Web demo on eFiling, FAQs etc.
- Place the cursor on each green cell to know about it i.e., to see the comments.
- For any issues call to their call center Aayakar Sampark Kendra (ASK) - 124-2438000 or e-mail to ask@incometaxindia.gov.in
See also
- Free File Alliance
- Refund anticipation loan
References
- ^ “Another record-breaking number of taxpayers choose to electronically file in 2007, Internal Revenue Service, November 7, 2007