Filing your income tax return on time is necessary because all the welfare schemes and institutions run by the government are fuelled by direct and indirect taxes paid by the general public. The Income Tax Act (1961) under section 139 (1) makes it clear that individuals with an income exceeding the stipulated amount must pay a decided percentage of income tax every year. The last date for filing your income tax is July 31, although the Income Tax Department might allow a grace period ranging between 15 and 30 days to complete the necessary steps. Let us now look at the steps you need to follow for filing your income tax yourself.

• Income Tax Returns can be filed online and offline, and forms ITR 1 and ITR 4 are for online filing.
• The 26AS form helps you create a summary of your income and thus calculate the tax amount.
• Keep your Aadhaar card linked to your mobile number because you will need to verify yourself with an OTP as the last step of tax filing.
  

There are several steps that you must follow while filing your taxes:

• Step 1: First, you should calculate your taxes based on your income. Please note that your income includes anything you earn from various sources, including investments.
• Step 2: Use the 26AS form to make a summary of your income after collating information from other forms about your total income. If you have made investments, register these on the income tax forms 2 or 3, as applicable.
• Step 3: If you are filing your tax returns online, you must fill either ITR 1 or ITR 4 because the other two are only for offline submission. An important note here is that if you hold a directorial post with a company or your combined income exceeds the amount of Rs. 50,00,000, you are ineligible to file your ITR under these provisions.
• Step 4: After you have understood these basic concepts, log on to the ITR website. Then, from the ‘Downloads’ section, download the software after you select the assessment year.
• Step 5: This software allows you to register your income, taxes payable based on the declared income, and any refunds, if applicable.
• Step 6: Once you register all your details, hit the validate button and confirm the correctness of the details.
• Step 7: Now convert this file into XML format, which is the required file format for submission.
• Step 8: Now, under the ‘e-Filing’ tab, fill in all the details correctly, including your PAN, your ITR form number, the assessment year, and the submission mode (online). Then, upload the XML file and click ‘submit’.

You are all set. The site will only prompt a verification process, and you will need to verify your Aadhaar details with the OTP received on your Aadhaar-linked mobile number.

There are several benefits of online tax filing:

• Filing your income tax online means that you can access the taxes anytime, without the need to search for the required papers.
• In business ventures, you will often need your tax details handy. Collaborating organisations will often need your tax records, which will help them understand you better.
• Online tax filing helps you to maintain a transparent relationship with the IT department, and any chances of any discrepancy with regard to income and property are greatly reduced.

Online filing saves time. You can file your ITR a couple of months before the due date and stay relaxed. Filing early is a good practice anyway, as servers tend to get slow with the deadline approaching as more and more people try to file their ITRs.

At any point in time, you can access the status of your ITR by logging onto the Income Tax website. All information you will need is your PAN, the acknowledgement number generated when you filed the ITR and the captcha code. Ensure that you pay your taxes on time to avoid the penalty codified under section 234F of the Income Tax Act. The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) can impose fines of up to Rs. 10,000 on defaulters.

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