The filing of income tax returns is mandatory if a person’s total income exceeds Rs. 2.5 lakhs in a financial year. The income tax slab is Rs. 3 lakhs and Rs. 5 lakhs and above for senior citizens and those more than 80 years of age respectively.

Returns need to be filed for the previous financial year before the due date of July 31st of the current financial year. For example, returns for FY 2017-18 must be filed by July 31, 2018. Due penalty is charged in case of non-adherence of the deadline.

To file IT returns, persons are required to individually approach an Assesse. The process also includes submitting KYC information such as Form-16, PAN, Aadhaar Number, investments made, taxes paid, all bank account details and home loan for processing of the ITR.

After submitting the KYC, an individual requires to fill the income tax form with personal, professional and financial details as stated in the form. The completed form should be uploaded on the Income Tax e-filing portal, post which an ITR-V will be received from the Income Tax Department as receipt/acknowledgement by the individual. The duly signed ITR-V receipt should be submitted via speed post to the Income Tax Department’s Bangalore Office. The ITR-V takes 120 days for validation. Charges are fixed for different assesse categories such as, salaried, business class, company or firm.

Interested people may contact Alankit for e-filing of IT returns at the Customer Care Number: 011-42541739 or send an e-mail to itr@alankit.com.

Processing of IT Returns takes 2-3 working days and depends on the details provided by the assesse.

A confirmation is received from the Income Tax Department, after successful uploading of the ITR, in the form of an automatically generated e-mail sent by the Income Tax department on the individual’s registered e-mail ID. An SMS is also sent to the individual’s registered contact number. Alternatively, individuals can also check the ITR-V status through their e-filing account.

Once an individual reaches at their income taxes due by summing up all their income, availing all the deductions applicable, assessing their taxable income amount and then, computing their taxes at the applicable rates to the particular income slab that they are coming under.

Next, if the income of an individual is between Rs. 50 lakhs to Rs. 1 crore, a 10% surcharge is applied and in case the income is more than Rs 1 crore, a 15% surcharge is applicable on the taxes due. Moreover, 4% of the amount of taxes due (plus the surcharge amount, if any) is required to be added in terms of health and education cess.

In case the income of the person during a year is not more than Rs 3.5 lakhs, then the person is entitled to claim a rebate amount, according to the Section 87A, of Rs 2,500 or less or the taxes due, whichever is lower.

The law of the Govt. has set it up as mandatory that only the following taxpayers are required to compulsorily pay their taxes online:

a. Companies

b. Taxpayers apart from the companies who are subject to audit, as per the Section 44AB

The rest of the taxpayers can then pay their taxes in the physical form, simply by submitting their challan at the banks as designated. Though, one can still opt for the option to make the payment online since it’s much easier and faster.

Thanks to the advancement of technology and the advent of internet, there definitely a number of benefits of making the e-payment of taxes as it saves a lot of time and effort of the taxpayer, making the process much more hassle free and instant at just a few clicks from within the comfort of their homes/ office at ease. Moreover, unlike the conventional ways of making payment physically where the credit of the paid taxes is sent to the Government at least after a day, in the online mode of payment, the credit is sent to the government on an immediate basis.

In order to make the payment of taxes online when one has opted for online income tax return filing, one must ensure that they have good internet connectivity and also, must have access to net banking enabled in any of the authorized banks. In case, one does not have access to a net banking enabled account, then one may make the payment by the use of anyone else’s net banking account as well but it is important to make sure that the taxes are then discharged in the person’s name itself and against one’s PAN only, for one to get the credit.

Nowadays, the facility to make the payment of taxes online has been enabled for almost all types of taxes. Some of these taxes that can be made payment for online include the following:

a. Income tax

b. Corporate tax

c. TDS (Tax Deducted at Source)

d. TCS (Tax Collected at Source)

e. Securities Transaction Tax (STT)

f. Equalization levy

At the time of paying the taxes online, if one faces any problem at the NSDL website, one can contact the TIN call center for assistance. Also, if one faces any problem at the gateway of payment of one’s bank, then, one may get in touch with their respective bank for assistance.