Theme: Money & Property

The offline electronic filing (e-filing) mode is applicable for all Income Tax Retun (ITR) Forms. In the offline e-filing mode, you have to fill the ITR form offline, and then submit it on the Income Tax Department website.

Step 1: Select ITR Form

For offline mode, you have to download the appropriate ITR Form from the Income Tax Department’s e-filing portal. If you want to know which ITR form you have to fill, read here.

A pre-filled form can also be downloaded if you log in to the e-filing portal. From your account, you can choose to ‘Download Pre-Filled XML’. Import this to fill personal and other details into your ITR forms.

Step 2: Fill in Details

You can fill in the downloaded ITR form offline. Ensure that you fill the form completely and provide all the necessary details correctly. Validate all the tabs in the form.

Note that ​​​​​​​​​​ITR forms are attachment less forms and, hence, you are not required to attach any document (like proof of investment, TDS certificates, etc.) along with the return of income. Keep the ITR forms safely as they may be asked by the tax authorities when demanded in situations like assessment, inquiry, etc.

Step 3: Compute your Tax Liability

Compute total income for the financial year and compute your tax liability. You can also take the help of a Chartered Accountant for this. After this, collect all the documents and verify all the taxes deducted from your income. This way you can compute the total income chargeable to tax. After computing your total income, you have to calculate your tax liability. You can do this by applying the tax rates in force as per your income slab.

Step 4: Deductions

Once you have computed your tax liability, deduct the taxes that have been already paid by you through TDS, TCS and Advance Tax, and add interest payable (if any). This will tell you if all the taxes are already paid by you or any additional tax has to be paid, or if you have paid any excess taxes and a refund is due to you.

Step 5: Submit ITR Form

Generate and save the form. After preparing the form offline, you can then submit it online by logging in to the e-filing portal.

Step 6: Upload ITR Form in XML Format

After selecting the ‘e-File’ menu, leading to the ‘Income tax return’ page, you will have to select the assessment year, ITR form number, and whether your ITR is an original/revised return. You can then upload your form in the XML format. You have several options for verifying your form, and can choose to verify your form at the time of submission or later.

Once the verification is done, you can check your ITR status here.

Sometimes, you may be required to file income tax returns (ITR) in response to a notice issued to you by the income tax authorities. These are some major instances when notice can be issued to the taxpayer:

If your tax return is defective

If the Assessing Officer thinks that your return of income is defective, he may notify you of the defect,^{(( Section 139(9), Income Tax Act, 1961))} and give you an opportunity to rectify the defect within fifteen days of the notice. The defect should be rectified within fifteen days or the extended period allowed by the Officer. Otherwise, your return shall be treated as an invalid return. It will be considered that you as the taxpayer have failed to submit the return, which will result in penalties for you.

Not filing tax return on time

In order to make an income tax assessment, the Assessing Officer may serve a notice on any person who has not submitted an income tax return on time, to make the person submit the return. The Officer can also ask you to produce any accounts or documents required by the Officer. The income tax authorities can ask you to submit or verify any information.  Further, this may include a statement of all your assets and liabilities.^{(( Section 142(1), Income Tax Act, 1961).} Reassessment of your income chargeable to tax – If the Assessing Officer thinks that any part of your income chargeable to tax has escaped assessment or not been assessed for any assessment year,((Section 147, Income Tax Act, 1961))

then he may assess or reassess such income which has escaped assessment and which comes to his notice subsequently. Before making this assessment, the Assessing Officer shall serve you a notice.^{(( Section 148, Income Tax Act, 1961))} The notice will require you to submit a return of income for the previous year corresponding to the relevant assessment year. The notice will specify the time within which you have to submit the return.

Penalties for not responding to notices

You have to respond promptly to the notices mentioned above, and act accordingly. If you do not respond, you can be punished under the Income Tax Act. However, you will not be punished if:

• You submit the return before the end of the assessment year
• Tax payable does not exceed Rs. 10,000.

If you don’t respond to a notice asking you to submit your tax return, or a notice asking you to submit your return for reassessment, then you can be punished with imprisonment and an unlimited fine. If the tax amount involved is more than Rs. 25 lakh, you can face imprisonment from 6 months up to 7 years. In other cases, you can face imprisonment from 3 months up to 2 years.^{(( Section 276CC, Income Tax Act, 1961))}