It's that time of the year again when you are tense about filing tax returns. But you need not look out for an accountant or stand in a long queue, just go online
IT'S A ritual that is never enjoyed by a salaried individual—calculating the taxes that need to be paid or seeking a refund on the income every year. The run through usually starts with a scurry to find a chartered accountant and ends with standing in a queue for submission of the tax returns. After all, money may have been earned with a lot of effort over the years but taxes are something you just cannot escape. Reason is simple: the government doesn't want the colour of money to blind you. With the authorities now adopting a progressive approach by promoting and improving e-filing mechanism, you can at least have a peace of mind going through the process without running after agents and signing blank return forms. Since e-filing has been made mandatory for corporate taxpayers, tax experts believe it's a matter of time when the same would be made compulsory for individuals as well. Here's a ready reckoner on why it makes sense for you to get habituated to e-filing and what makes it a better platform in comparison to the paper filing.
WHY ONLINE?
Simply because the electronic mode is much more user friendly and returns can be filed 24x7—anywhere, anytime. It gives you the convenience of time and place, as you are spared from the hassle of making a physical presence in the jurisdictional location for filing of the tax return. What's more, your chances of making errors are minimised owing to validation process. Even as the computation is based on the data that you provide, you don't need to worry about the accuracy of calculation, selection of appropriate return form, completeness and confidentiality. What makes the online mode score over the paper filing process is the security aspect, which is fairly higher with the former. It also means a speedier process for obtaining refund. For the uninitiated, the income-tax department's centralised processing centre at Bangalore ensures all electronically filed returns are processed on a priority basis.
With step-by-step instructions and assistance provided round the clock, tax experts feel going online even increases an individual's productivity. Individual taxpayers usually end up in a queue at office to meet the tax agent or in the queue at the IT office to deposit their tax returns. An employee typically spends four-eight productive hours to get his or her tax return filed. E-filing process saves tens of thousands of productive man-hours. What's more the method is environment friendly. Physical or paper filing not only involves queues and waste of core productive hours but also results in huge wastage of paper. Since printouts and photocopies normally run into 10-15 pages, e-filing saves paper too.
BEAR IN MIND
When filing returns online, your first priority should be to make certain that PAN and other personal details such as name, date of birth are correctly mentioned. For the correct assessing officer—ward or circle—details, you can visit the PAN section of the income-tax website. Tax experts caution that you must not copy paste information in the ITR from other sources as it can raise problems for you in case of validation process. Then you must cross check that you provided the correct bank account details, especially in case of a refund. Besides, details of tax deduction at source, advance tax and self-assessment tax should be precisely stated to avail proper credit. Baweja of Walker, Chandiok & Company here warns that options other than black ink to print the ITR-V must be shut out, as your form can get rejected. Even the use of stapler on ITR-V acknowledgment and any signature or insertion of any handwritten text on the bar code should be avoided. Also, if not signed digitally, the ITR-V form should be posted to Bangalore within the stipulated time limit.
Tax experts insist an improved way to file returns online is via obtaining of digital signature as then you avoid paper filing at a later stage. However, in case a portal's services are availed, a thorough check must be made on data privacy policy, Secure Socket Layer (SSL) certificate, data center certification and compliance to security standards before going ahead. To further test credibility, it's advisable to see if the company that is running the website has been in existence for a considerable period of time. Besides, check if the website is an authorised e-return intermediary to file tax return on behalf of assesses like you. It has been often seen that individuals fall prey to those who are offering free filing services. Remember, there are no free lunches. When you provide your personal income tax information to unauthorised agents, your confidential data may be disclosed to agents or companies who may as a result pitch you for sales of financial products such as insurance, mutual funds and unit-linked insurance plans. Unsolicited sales calls and spam emails are generally a result of compromising the confidentiality of your data. Availability of your income data gives these companies an opportunity to manipulate the sales process.
Dos
• Ensure the website is an authorised intermediary to file return on behalf of assessees
• Check if the e-filing portal has solution to all the ITR forms applicable for individuals (ITR1, ITR2, ITR4)
• Make sure you provide correct email id so that communication with I-TD is not lost
Don'ts
• Fall prey to those offering free filing services
• Provide personal I-T information to unauthorised agents
• Hide any income from reporting in ITR. Many employees do not report income from previous employer
