8638 - Income Tax Returns Went Fully Online This Year - Why It's Important - NDTV

Income Tax Returns Went Fully Online This Year - Why It's Important

by Archit Gupta , 31 August 2015

In 2010, 5 million income tax returns were filed online in India. In 2014, 34 million tax returns were e-filed. That's roughly a 7x jump in 5 years.

While e-filing was electronic, there had always been a "paper" verification, where tax payers would have to sign and send a one page ITR-V by post to Bangalore. With 25 percent of tax payers omitting this paper step, and the other 75 percent expressing a lot of grief while getting this step done, the Income Tax Department had been working away on various strategies to phase out this paper based-step.

(Also see: File Income Tax Returns Online in India With These Websites)

The 7x growth in the e-filing population of India contributed to the meteoric rise of tax filing websites. These sites are often simpler to use than the website of the Income Tax Department of India, and also have better design, along with features like automatic creation of the tax return using the Form-16 taxpayers get. ClearTax has tripled in in terms of the number of users employing its service every year since its inception, and this growth led to investors like Y Combinator making their first India-focused investment into ClearTax. The ClearTax platform has so far helped a million tax payers with tax related filings and compliance items.

Phasing out the ITR-V step required a lot of innovation by the IT Department. Tax payers after filing can now e-verify themselves instead of signing a physical piece of paper. The IT department devised two clever mechanisms. The first was using Aadhaar. The tax department usage is possibly the largest use case of the Aadhaar system, where, if the taxpayer has linked their PAN number to Aadhaar, then they can e-verify this via a one-time password.

The second method used by IT Department was riding on netbanking. The IT Department tied up with all major national banks net banking systems. In this tie-up, taxpayers can login to the IT Department website to e-verify using the bank's netbanking credentials.

This e-verification has had great adoption even though it is a bit confusing to understand how to e-verify. To solve this, we created an infographic to show taxpayers what really needs to be done.

E-filing is very interesting from a technology standpoint. There is massive seasonality, so you get a huge spike in traffic where hundreds of Web-servers get deployed on the deadline, state of the art technology is used, CPU usage is massive in data centres for crunching numbers.

For example, if you make a profit or loss on selling your house or stock, we just need you to specify sale and purchase price and dates and our system will do a bunch of complex calculations and prepare the tax form automatically. We [ClearTax] invented automatic tax preparation where you upload your Form-16 and taxes are instantly done.

India's journey with its taxes is fascinating as it unfolds, and we as a nation have gone completely electronic eliminating paper for the first time in 2015. It has taken eight years since the launch of e-filing. Only four percent of India today files taxes, and the median age of Indians is 26, which means a lot of young people will get added to the tax system as years go by. India is also rolling out GST (Goods and Services Tax) and that is going to be a digital tax system from ground up.

ClearTax Founder Archit Gupta is very excited about the next ten years of innovation in India with finance technology, taxes, strong digitisation, and API-based trends.

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed within this article are the personal opinions of the author. NDTV is not responsible for the accuracy, completeness, suitability, or validity of any information on this article. All information is provided on an as-is basis. The information, facts or opinions appearing in the article do not reflect the views of NDTV and NDTV does not assume any responsibility or liability for the same.

8570 - Filed your income tax returns? Go ahead and e-verify I-T - Economic Times

Filed your income tax returns? Go ahead and e-verify I-T

By Chandralekha Mukerji, ET Bureau | 19 Aug, 2015, 10.13AM IST

There seems to be a general aversion towards e-verification of returns, a process introduced this year by the Income Tax Department that makes tax-filing fully paperless. 

Till last year, if you did not have a digital signature, you had to send a copy of the ITR V to the Central Processing Centre in Bengaluru.From this year, the tax department has introduced an alternate way of paperless e-filing via Electronic Verification Code (EVC). The 10-digit EVC code can be generated through your net banking account, linking your Aadhaar card, using ATMs or even by registering your email or mobile number on the income tax website. 

However, there seems to be a general aversion to e-verifying among taxpayers. 

According to the income tax department's website, among the total 62.19 lakh returns files, only 12.8 lakh taxpayers have used the e-verification route so far. "The method is not complicated and most of the taxpayers who e-file are tech-savvy. So, there seems to be a lack of awareness," says Sudhir Kaushik, Cofounder and CFO of Taxspanner.com. 

Here are the various ways in which you can generate the EVC. 

REGISTER E-MAIL 

The taxpayer can generate an EVC by login into the income tax e-filing website--http:www.incometaxindiaefiling.gov.in. However, this mode can be used only if the total income, that is before applying any deductions, is Rs 5 lakh or below and there is no refund claim. After you log in and opt for e-filing, you can request for the code by clicking on the "Generate EVC" option. 

The site will ask you to choose between--e-filing OTP or EVC through Net banking. Click on the former and a one-time-password (OTP) will be sent to your mobile number or registered e-mail ID. Use this code under the e-verify option given on the site and complete your tax-return process. 

NET BANKING 

If your total income is more than rs 5 lakhs or if there is refund, you have only one option--EVC through net banking. When you select this options, you'll be redirected to a page with the list of banks available for net banking Login. If your bank has authorised by the income tax department for providing direct access to the government's e-filing website, the name should be here and you should be able to log in using your internet-banking ID and password. Also, your PAN must have been validated via KYC. The EVC will be sent to your bank-registered mobile number. "This will be a big relief to NRIs who do not have digital signatures and faced a lot of problem with mailing physical ITR-Vs," says Preeti Khurana, Chief Content Editor, ClearTax.in. 

Some banks have been registered for generating EVC using your debit or credit card via ATM machines.However, the channel seems to be not working. This is also not the best way and the net banking route is much simpler. 

AADHAAR NUMBER 

For this, your Aadhaar card and PAN should be linked. If the two are not linked income tax department's website show a pop-up and you simply have to fill in your Aadhaar number on the redirected page to link the two. Once linked, an OTP will be sent to your registered mobile number which is valid for next 10 minutes. 

8432 - E-filing I-T returns is convenient, easy - Tribune India

Posted at: Aug 3 2015 2:01AM

E-filing I-T returns is convenient, easy

Amol Mishra

“Income tax returns are the most imaginative fiction being written today,” says, Herman Wouk, an American author. As soon as we talk of income tax returns, somewhere down the line, there is a strain in the brain. Well, not anymore, because you can file the return online now.

Earlier, one had to physically file the returns, tedious paper-work was involved and all in all, filing income tax returns was a very time -consuming process. Keeping this difficulty of the public in mind, Government has taken a step by starting e-filing of income tax returns.

What does e-filing of income tax returns mean?

E-filing of income tax return means filing income tax return electronically using internet from anywhere, anytime. It is mandatory to e-file the income tax return if the total income in the financial year is more than Rs 5 lakh. Income tax return can be e-filed in three ways, the first way is by digitally signing the Income tax return verification acknowledgement (ITR-V), second way is by signing and sending hard copy of ITR-V to CPC, Bangalore and third way is by using the new system of electronic verification code.

Taxpayers filing returns electronically without using digital signatures are required to send the signed copy of ITR-V acknowledgement to CPC, Bangalore within 120 days of filing the return. Taxpayers who have signed digitally are not required to send the ITR-V to CPC. Moreover, taxpayers can now file their income tax returns without any headache of sending the same to CPC, Bangalore using EVC i.e Electronic Verification Code. EVC means a code is generated for the purpose of electronic verification of the person furnishing the return of income. EVC will be a unique number linked to assessee’s PAN. It cannot be used for filing return of income of any other PAN. One EVC can be used to validate one return, irrespective, of assessment year or type of return. Taxpayers can generate EVC by any of the four methods, viz through net-banking, through Aadhaar number, through ATM or through e-filing website of income tax department. Let us understand these methods in detail:

Electronic verification code through net-banking: In this case, some specified banks registered with Income-tax Department provide direct access to the e-filing website to their accounts holders. By clicking on e-filing option, account holder will be redirected to the e-filing website where he can generate the EVC. EVC generated will be sent to the registered e-mail id and mobile number of taxpayer, which can be used to verify income-tax return.

Through Aadhaar number: Taxpayer can link their Aadhaar number with their PAN on e-filing website to generate the EVC. Once the Aadhaar number is linked to PAN, “one-time password” (OTP) will be generated and sent to the taxpayer’s registered mobile number.

Through ATM: All taxpayers can generate EVC through ATM only if ATM card of taxpayer is linked to PAN validated bank account and bank is also registered with the income-tax department. Taxpayer can access ATM of registered bank using his debit/credit card. The bank will communicate the request to e-filing website which will generate EVC and send the EVC to assessee on his registered mobile number.

Through e-filing website of I-T Dept:  An assessee can also generate EVC by using e-filing website of Income-tax Dept. (i.e. www.incometaxindiaefiling.gov.in). However, this facility is available only to the assessees having total income of Rs 5 lakh or below and who are not claiming income tax refund.

EVC verification is an optional process. If the taxpayer wants, he can continue to send ITR-V physically to CPC, Bangalore.

E-Filing has definitely elucidated the efforts of taxpayers as it is more accurate due to various cross checks performed electronically, which is missed in physical return filing. It facilitates faster processing as it is computer based, more secure than paper-based filing as there are lesser chances of loss of data and the best thing is you can e-file from anywhere, anytime as per your convenience.

Albert Einstein once said, “The hardest question in the world to understand is the income taxes”. Well, not anymore.

The author is Head of Tax, myITreturn.com. The views expressed in this article are his own

8302 - How You Can E-Verify Your Income Tax Return - NDTV

How You Can E-Verify Your Income Tax Return

Cleartax.in | Last Updated: July 18, 2015 15:10 (IST)

Not many taxpayers know that the process of filing tax returns is not complete until your return is verified. Till last year, most of the ITRs or income tax returns could be verified by signing and sending a physical document, an acknowledgement, called the ITR-V to CPC, Bangalore. Some returns could also be verified through digital signatures.

If you have ever missed this very crucial step of mailing your ITR-V to Bangalore and suffered, or wished there was no paperwork involved, there is a reason to rejoice. The Income Tax Department has released details of e-verification of your tax returns.

(Also read: How to self e-file your ITR)

Let's take a look at how this can be done. First, let's take a look at the various means by which you can complete verification of your income tax return:

1. Verification using EVC: An EVC or electronic verification code can be generated before you file your return or during the filing process, through the Income Tax Department's website. EVC is sent to your registered email id and mobile number. This is a new mechanism, introduced by the department this year, to verify your return. EVC is a 10-digit alphanumeric code. It is valid for 72 hours. It can be used to verify all the ITR forms except ITR-6. The EVC is unique for a PAN. Therefore, it will not be valid for any other PAN. One EVC validates one income tax return. So if you revise your return, you will need another EVC. And a separate EVC will be required for each assessment year. This code shall be valid for 72 hours. If you fail to use your EVC within 72 hours you can generate another EVC and you will again have a window to use it within 72 hours.

2. Verification using Aadhaar OTP: In order to use the Aadhaar OTP (one-time password) method, you have to link your account at incometaxindiaefiling.gov.in with your Aadhaar number. This can be done by logging on the e-filing website. Once you have linked your Aadhaar card, your return can be verified via an OTP sent to your registered mobile number. This is the first year in which verification via Aadhaar OTP has been introduced.

3. Verification through net banking account: Specified banks which have been registered with the I-T department for the purpose of e-filing may provide direct access to the e-filing website. The banks will be providing this service to their accountholders whose bank accounts have a validated PAN as part of KYC (know your client). The facility will be available using the existing internet banking website and the taxpayer can use this facility through their existing internet banking user ID, login password and transaction password. This method of e-verification has been introduced this year too.

Besides, there are two other existing methods of verifying your ITR:

4. Verification using DSC Digital Signature Certificate

5. Verification by sending your physical ITR-V to CPC, Bangalore

Let's go back to verification of the ITR using an EVC. Here are the various steps you need to take to e-verify your return on the government's website using this route:

• Log on to incometaxindiaefiling.gov.in by entering your user ID and password, and your date of birth.
• Click on 'e-File' and click on 'Generate EVC' within this menu
• You will receive an email - on your registered email account - from the I-T department with your EVC details which will also be sent to your registered mobile number.
• Click on 'e-File' on the main tab and then click on 'e-verify Return'. You will see four options:
• "I already have an EVC and I would like to Submit EVC"
• "I do not have an EVC and I would like to generate an EVC"
• "I would like to generate Aadhaar OTP to e-Verify my return"
• "I would like to e-Verify later/ I would like to send ITR-V"
• Select the first option. Provide the EVC in the text box. Click 'Submit'. Download the acknowledgement document. Your e-filing is complete. No further action is required from your end now.

In case you choose the option to send the ITR-V then download ITR-V and send it to CPC, Bangalore.

If you have picked the Aadhaar OTP route for verification of your ITR, here are the steps you need to take:

• Log on to incometaxindiaefiling.gov.in by entering your user ID and password, and your date of birth.
• After login, a pop-up appears asking you to link your Aadhaar number with you e-filing account.
• Make sure your PAN details are correct and then enter your Aadhaar number. Click 'Save'.
• Your Aadhaar number will be linked to your PAN after validation.
• After your Aadhaar number has been validated, enter the aadhaar OTP sent to your mobile number registered with Aadhaar. Submit to e-Verify return.
• Note that the Aadhaar OTP is valid only for 10 minutes.
• Download the acknowledgement document. You have successfully e-filed and e-verified your income tax return.

Here are the steps you need to take to e-verify your return through net banking:

• Log in to your net banking account.
• Select the I-T returns e-filing option from the options available to login to the I-T department's website.
• Upload return and click submit
• Select the option "I would like to e-verify my return now". Click 'Continue'.
• Download the acknowledgement document. You have successfully e-filed and e-verified your income tax return.