How To File ITR Using The New Filing Portal of Income Tax

Introduction

CBDT has introduced a new income tax return filing portal. Return filing is now way simpler than earlier. In the case of small taxpayers, it can be filed without the help of any professional. It is easy to file ITR using the new filing portal. It contains many features and information to support taxpayers.

New Portal of Income-tax India

Recently new portal for Income tax is introduced. CBDT claims that it is much user friendly. Although till date it is not working properly. Once it is updated I will post the live screens from the portal to understand it better.

Filing of ITR using the new filing portal

Seems easy? At least for individuals with a salary income, it is quite easy. In other cases, it is a bit complex. Now let us have a detailed analysis of these steps.

Step -1 Prepare the total income under the various heads

The first thing we need to do is, make a list of all incomes during the year.  All type of income is divided into five heads in Income Tax. They are-

• Income from Salary (Including the pension, gratuity, or anything received from the employees for employment.)
• House property (This won’t include the income from the sale of house property, only the rent income is considered in this head)
• Income from business or profession
• Capital Gains (This includes the profits or losses on the sale of capital assets)
• Income from Other sources (Incomes not falling in any of the above categories will simply fall in this head)

The rate of tax under these heads can vary. e.g. In the case of short-term capital gains, the tax rate is 30% irrespective of the slab. The amount we calculated in this step is called the gross total income.

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Step-2 Reduce the deductions

Chapter VI of the Income Tax Act contains the various deductions from the Gross total income. No, we don’t apply tax rates on this income. We do tax calculations of net income. How to calculate that? You need to reduce the deductions of Chapter VI from Gross total income to reach the Net income. Then we will apply the tax rates on that net income. Deductions include the Life insurance premium, Mediclaim, Expenses on Education of kids, Investment in PPF or Mutual funds. Although there is a long list. But these are the most common deductions. Let us move forward. Never forget this formula.

How it is better if we file ITR using the new filing portal of Income-tax?

Earlier we were used to entering this information in an Excel utility. In the new income tax portal, you can fill it directly on the portal. It may save a lot of time. You don’t even need MS Excel in your system.

Step-3 Calculate the total tax liability

Now we need to calculate the total tax liability. It is simple. We can divide this into further two steps.

• First, calculate the tax on income having the specific rate. e.g. Long term capital gains have a tax rate of 20%. In this case, we cant apply a normal slab rate or general rate to that income. So we will calculate the tax on those incomes at specific rates.
• Reduce it from the total income and calculate the tax on balance using the normal slab rate or general rate applicable. Why I am using both terms- Slab rates and general rate? In the case of Individuals and HUF, we have slab rates. But in the case of a company, there is one general rate. In any case, we will first calculate tax on specific rates and then normal rates.
• Then we need to add this tax amount.

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The new filing portal of Income-tax has the feature to calculate tax and interest on the amount entered. Earlier we were used to calculating the interest manually. But now we just need to enter the data and the final tax amount will be automatically calculated.

You can learn the detailed filing of income tax returns with CA Rohit Kapoor.

Step-4 Enter it into the portal online

Now the data is ready. The only thing we need to do is to enter it into the portal. It is very simple now in the new portal of Income-tax. Enter the head-wise data. Deductions can be entered into the deductions column. That’s it.

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Step-5 validate and pay/claim a refund of the final amount

Once you fill in the entire data. Check the final amount payable/refundable. How to calculate that amount? It is simple. Take your total tax liability and reduce the amount of TDS as per 26AS and the amount of advance tax paid by you. Then the final amount if it is positive, It is tax payable. If it is negative, It is a refund.

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Step-6 Attach DSC if required and file the return

Some taxpayers are required to attach DCS while filing. Others can file using the EVC. Thus verify the return in the required manner and click on the file. Congrats! Oops! missed something? don’t worry you can revise it. Revision is not allowed for the returns filed after due date. Thus always file your return within the given time limit.