How to File Income Tax Return Online for Salaried Employee

Filing tax returns online is easy, quick and simple and can be completed online without any help from a Chartered Accountant.

The income tax returns filings can be done in Hindi too.

Do not wait till July 31st that is the last date for filing income tax returns. The last moment rush can lead to server overloads.

I can help you with the detailed step by step process. Before that let us understand about the various types of Income Tax Return (ITR) Forms and the information you should keep ready before starting the online tax return filing.

Information to be Collected Before Online Filing

How to Choose the Right ITR Form

Deciding a right ITR Form for filing tax returns online can be confusing. Below is the list of different categories of ITR forms and who they are meant for

Steps to File an Income Tax Return Online

Salaried employees need to file ITR 1 (Sahaj) or ITR 2 depending on the amount of salary received and other income earned in the financial year 2018-19.

After you have selected the appropriate ITR form and kept all the above information ready let us start to file the tax return online.

Step 1 – Login to Income Tax website

Use official Income Tax Department, e-filing website for filing your tax returns online.

In case you have not registered with the Income Tax Department for online return filing, then you can get registered by providing PAN and other details.

Already registered users can proceed to log in by using user ID (which is nothing but your PAN number), password, date of birth, and by filling in the captcha.

You will be prompted to update your latest details.

Fill in the updated details, which will help in smooth and quick communications from the income tax department.

Next, you will be landing on the dashboard of the online tax filing portal. Where you can e-file tax returns, view old online tax returns, and can even generate form 26AS.

Step 2 – Go to e-file – Income Tax Returns

On the next webpage fill in the required details. The assessment year will be 2019-20 and the ITR Form number will be ITR 1 or ITR 2 depending on the amount and source of income.

Select “Prepare and submit ITR Online” for online submission mode.

You will also be prompted for options to e-verify the returns:

The online tax return can be verified through

Note: If you have accessed the e-filing portal through your net banking then tax return will get verified automatically.

Going ahead a page will pop-up with pre-filled information

You can see the information that is already present with the income tax department. The information is collected from the previously filed returns.

You can verify and modify your personal information. If there are no changes in your employment or income sources then you can straight away select all the information.

Next, you can see 6 tabs

Tab 1 – Instruction: These are few instructions from the income tax department for filling in certain information and other suggestions helpful for easy filing of returns.

Tabs 2 – Part A – General Information: Where you can find all your relevant information required for submission of IT returns.

Tab 3 – Computation of Income and Tax: Here you need to fill in details of all the income which you received and the deduction which you are claiming.

Tab 4 – Tax Details: The page contains information of the TDS deducted and needs to be checked for accuracy.

Tab 5 – Tax Paid and Verification: The information here is all about the quantum of tax payable or to be refunded by the IT department.

Tab 6 – Donations 80G: Here you can fill in the details of all the donations made in the previous year. The page automatically calculates the eligible exempted amount and takes into the computation of income and tax.

Before proceeding any further please check the ITR form number and the assessment year once again. The detail is on the top left-hand side of the page.

Step 3 – Instructions and General Information

Check the already present general information for any changes and accuracy. Fill in all the information correctly. All the information with asterisks is mandatory for proper filing of tax returns.

Step 4 – Computation of Income and Tax

Here there are two parts and is marked as part B, which asks you to fill up all the income and in part C you are required to fill all the eligible deduction details.

Part B: All the details of your income, the sources need to be filled in the online form. Take the help of Form 16 and the income sheet for filling in all the details.

In case of income only from salary and interest, you can fill salary details in row B1 (first box).

The saving bank account interest details can be filled in B3 (Income through other sources).

Part C: Fill all the relevant exemptions which you are claiming under various sections.

Step 5 -Tax Details

The information pertains to various TDS and taxes deducted by your employer, bank and other financial institutions which are required to deduct TDS.

However, you need to check the same vis-a-vis the information contained in form 26AS. Any difference, even for a small amount of Rs. 5 can prompt notices from the income tax department.

If you have paid any additional tax or advance tax then you need to fill in the details at the last row.

Step 6 – Tax Paid and Verification

Here in Part D already containing information (automatically gets calculated based on the details filled in earlier two pages).

You need to verify and ensure that the information is correct. The page reflects details of tax payable or to be refunded if any.

Further, in the later part you are required to fill in the details of exempted income like agriculture, dividend received and LTCG less than Rs. 1 Lakh.

Also, you should fill the bank account details where you want refund amount to be credited and the details of other bank accounts held in the financial year.

Lastly, you need to fill in the undertaking and opt the method for verification.

Step 7 – Details of Donations 80G

Here you can fill in the details of all the donations.

The page automatically calculates the eligible exempted amount and takes into the computation of income and tax.

Step 8 – Submission & Verification

Now you can preview and submit the form online. Verifying the e-tax returns is simple and takes a few minutes using Aadhaar or Bank/Demat account.

Otherwise, you can save the returns and verify later or take a printout of the acknowledgement and post it to IT-CPC, Bengaluru.

Lastly, you can generate the Acknowledgment of ITR and keep for reference.