If you are a salaried employee in India, filing income tax returns is mandatory even if you do not have any tax liability. Filing IT returns comes as a proof of income that can provide you access to a range of financial products such as loans.
The last date to file income tax returns for the assessment year (AY) 2022-23 or financial year (FY) 2021-22 is 31 July 2022. Not complying with this deadline will invite a penalty or late fees as applicable depending on the date of filing later.
A salaried person is one who is employed with a public or private enterprise and paid a monthly remuneration as salary. If you are new to filing income tax returns online, you must know that it is a very easy process. Visiting the official website of the Income Tax Department, you will find can’t be more user friendly than how it is. Here in this article I will let you know how to file I|T returns in a few simple steps.
Read More: ITR filing: How to file Income Tax Return without Form 16 – Explained
Preliminaries you must do
Before getting started with filing IT returns, calculate your total income for the financial year 2021-22. To do this, you will find the Form-16 issued by your employer very useful. From this form, you will know your total income and also how much taxes has been deducted from the source.
If you have other kinds of income like income from house rent or capital gains, you must then calculate it before setting your hands on filing IT returns.
While filing IT returns, salaried employees must choose between two forms namely ITR-1 and ITR-2. You must opt for ITR-1 if your total income from salary is below Rs 50 lakh per annum. If your income has crossed this threshold or if you want to claim expenses under the category ‘Income from Other Sources’ you must choose the ITR-2.
Keep these documents ready before you file IT returns
Form 16 and 16AS
Interest income certificate given by the bank
Investment proofs
Rental receipts in case you live in a rented home
House rental income details if you have rented out your property
Interest certificate if you have an ongoing housing loan repayment
Proof for other income sources
How to file IT returns through ITR-1
Read More: ITR filing: Not mandatory for THESE citizens to file Income Tax Return – Check exemption list
If you are filing IT returns for the first time, you must first register yourself in the Income Tax online portal inputting the details of your PAN card and Aadhaar Card. Make sure that your mobile number is linked with your Aaadhaar card. You have updated if there are any changes in your phone number linked with your account, and your bank accounts are linked to your PAN, Aadhaar number and mobile number.
If you are already registered on the portal, log in using your credentials.
On the menu tab, choose E-File > Income Tax Returns > File Income Tax Returns.
If you want to file IT returns for the financial year 2021-22, you must choose Assessment Year (AY) 2022-23. Under mode of filing, choose ‘Online’ and then click on ‘Continue’.
Choose the type of your ITR form like ITR-1 or ITR-2, etc.
In the next choose from the list of reasons for filing income tax return and then click on ‘Continue’.
Now, you will move on to the most important segment of IT returns filing.
On this page, you will find five tabs. You need to validate all those pieces of data and information one by one. The tabs are titled as Personal information, Gross total income, Total tax deductions, Total tax paid, and Total tax liability.
In the first tab titled as ‘Personal Information’, check your personal details like PAN, Date of Birth, mobile number, and email address. Select your nature of employment as appropriate in your case.
The second tab is titled ‘Gross Total Income’. In this section, you need to select the exemptions that are applicable in your case. Here you will find that the required details have been captured by the employer in Form 16. You can ‘skip’ this process and then click on ‘Continue’.
The third tab will ask you to give details of “Income from other sources” depending on whatever is applicable in your case, input details for fields including dividend income, rental receipts from house property, interest income from bank deposits, and others.
In the fourth tab ‘Total Deductions’, fill in all the fields applicable in your case in order to claim tax deductions under sections like 80C, 80D, and 80CCD. If these details have been given in Form 16, you will find that these fields are pre-filled and you only need to validate the details after checking them.
The fifth and final tab in this section is titled ‘Tax Paid’. In this segment, you will find that the details are pre-filled from the data given earlier in form 26AS with TDS, TCS, Advance Tax, and Self-Assessment Tax. Your tax liability will be automatically computed by the system.
Once you confirm all the details in the IT returns filing form, you have to click on ‘Proceed’. The system will generate a tax summary that will give you all your tax liabilities. If any refunds are applicable in your case, the system will register a refund request to the linked bank account. If there are any dues to be paid, the summary will let you know how much you need to pay.
When you have completed all these steps in ITR filing, you will have to preview the returns and click on ‘Submit’. After submitting, you have to validate the tax return in electronic mode through net banking or through Aadhaar OTP. There is also an alternative to this step and you can take a print of the IT return copy, sign it and send a copy to the CPC of the income tax department within 120 days of filing the IT returns.
Take Away
When compared to earlier times, filing IT returns is made extremely easy and user-friendly now. In fact, you can do it yourself without having to seek any professional help. Salaried employees will be highly benefited by filing IT returns as they can negotiate a better interest rate while applying for personal loans.
