Income Tax Alert! Filing ITR online? Ensure e-verification before logging out; step by step guide

Income Tax Return e-filing: The last date for income tax return filing has been extended by three months to 30th June 2020. The Finance Minister made this announcement saying the step was necessary due to the recent spread of the COVID-19 virus in India and the implementation of lockdown. So, income taxpayers are advised to file their ITR by 30th June 2020. However, it's advisable for the income taxpayers to e-file their I-T return. If one e-files ITR and commits any mistake, he or she can correct the mistakes online logging in at incometaxindiaefiling.gov.in. According to the tax and investment experts, if you fail to file your ITR by the new deadline, then the Income Tax Department would slap Rs 10,000 penalty on you. So, it's better to e-file your ITR and keep your record at the income tax office sound and foolproof. However, after re-verifying the ITR, one needs to send the Form V of the ITR to the Income Tax Department office in Bengaluru.

Speaking on the benefit of e-filing the I-T return, CS Sudheer, CEO and founder at IndianMoney.com said, "If you find an omission or a wrong statement in the original ITR, make a correction by filing a revised income tax return in the e-filing portal. You can file the revised return any time before the end of the relevant assessment year or before the completion of the assessment, whichever comes earlier."

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Asked about how to e-file IT return and e-verify it CS Sudheer listed out the following steps:

1] Visit the Income Tax e-filing portal, www.incometaxindiaefiling.gov.in;

2] You then login to the e-filing portal by entering the PAN (User ID), Password, Captcha and then click ‘Login’;

3] Click on e-file menu and then click the ‘Income Tax Return’ link;

4] On income tax return page, the PAN gets auto-populated;

5] Select ITR Form Number and Assessment Year;

6] You then select ‘Filing Type’ as Revised Return;

7] You then select ‘Submission Mode’ as ‘Prepare and Submit Online’;

8] You find the Online ITR Form under the ‘General Information’ Tab. You must choose ‘Return Filing Section’ as ‘Revised Return under Section 139(5)’ and ‘Return filing type’ as ‘Revised’;

9] You then enter the acknowledgment Number and Date of filing of the original return. (It is compulsory to enter the 15 digit acknowledgment number when filing revised ITR);

10] You fill or correct relevant details of the online ITR form and then submit the ITR; and

11] Finally, e-verify the ITR returns for faster processing and refunds or send ITR-V through normal/speed post to Centralized Processing Center, Income Tax Department, Bengaluru – 560500.

Speaking on the importance of e-verification while filing  ITR online, Manikaran Singhal said that after e-verification, a hard copy of the ITR file must be sent to the Income Tax Office in Bengaluru, otherwise entire effort becomes useless.