The deadline to file your income tax return (ITR) for FY 2017-18 is July, 31, 2018 (unless the government decides to extend it). By filing your return on time, along with certain benefits such as carry forward of losses, you will not have to pay a late filing penalty. Remember, if you file your ITR after the deadline you will have to pay late filing fees of up to Rs 10,000.


All the ITRs can be filed only in electronic mode expect for certain categories of tax assesses who can file physical ITRs. To file ITR, one must be registered on the e-filing website of the income tax department.

Here are all the links you need to help you e-file your tax return by yourself and also a step-by-step guide on how to do it.

STEP-BY-STEP GUIDE TO FILE YOUR INCOME TAX RETURN (ITR)

1. Collect required documents such as TDS certificates (Form16), capital gains statement
The first step is to collect all the documents you will need to file your ITR such as Form 16, salary slips, and interest certificates. The documents will help you compute your taxable income and will provide you the details of tax deducted at source (TDS) from your income in the FY 2017-18.

Form-16, given by your employer, is a TDS certificate. Similarly, if your bank has deducted any TDS on the interest payments made to you, they are required to issue Form-16A. Ensure that all the TDS certificates received by you from all the deductors are in the TRACES format.

TDS certificate received by you should be digitally signed. They will bear a check mark indicating that the signature is verified. Non-verified signatures on the TDS certificate will have a question mark over it. You will be required to verify it.

You must check that the amount of tax deducted as shown in the TDS certificate matches the amount shown in salary slips. This ensures that TDS deducted by your employer from your income is deposited with the government against your PAN.

Similarly, if you have redeemed mutual fund unit in FY 2017-18, you can ask them to provide the transaction statement and capital gains statement for the same.

2. Download and check Form 26AS
Form 26AS is your tax passbook which consists all the details of the tax that has been deducted from your income during the FY 2017-18 and deposited against your PAN.

Download your tax credit statement, i.e., Form 26AS from the TRACES website. To download this, login to your account, click on 'My Account' tab and select 'View Form 26AS'. The website will redirect you to the TRACES website to view and download the same.

Cross-check the amount of tax deducted with that mentioned in the TDS certificates. Form 26AS should reflect all the taxes for which a TDS certificate has been issued to you.

3. Set any errors in Form 26AS errors right
In case of any difference in the TDS amount shown in Form 26AS and TDS certificates, take up the matter with the deductor which can be your employer, bank, or others, as the case may be and request for rectification. Chartered accountants advise to keep track of all the TDS deducted during the financial year so as to avoid any discrepancies at return filing time.

If your TDS is deducted but not deposited with the government and your deductor is not paying heed to your complaints, then the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has issued certain circulars regarding the same. The circulars state that income tax officers must not harass the deductee.

4. Compute total income for the financial year
Once you have verified all the taxes that are deducted from your income, then you are required to compute the total income chargeable to tax.
Total income is computed by adding incomes from five different heads and claiming all the relevant deductions allowed under the Income-tax Act and setting off losses.

5. Compute your tax liability
After computing your total income, you have to calculate your tax liability by applying the tax rates in force for the FY 2017-18 as per your income slab. While computing your tax liability, remember that Budget 2017 has slashed the income tax rates for the lowest income tax slabs. From FY 2017-18 onwards, tax rate for those with income between Rs 2,50,001 and Rs 5,00,000 is 5 per cent. Also, rebate available under section 87A has been reduced t ..

6. Calculate final tax payable, if any
Once you have computed your tax liability in the earlier step, deduct the taxes that have been already paid by you through TDS, TCS and Advance Tax during the year. Add interest if any payable under section 234A, 234B and 234C.

This will tell you if all the taxes are already paid by you or any additional taxes have to be paid or if you have paid any excess taxes and a refund is due to you.
If any additional taxes are due, that can be paid physically via cheque or online using challan ITNS 280. Income tax payments made after March 15 of the financial year for which return is to be filed are called payment of self-assessment tax. The same should get reflected in your Form 26AS within 2-3 working days from the date of payment which you should cross-check.

7. File income tax return after all taxes are paid
Once taxes, if any due, are paid by you, you are  required to file your ITR. Even if you have income tax refund due, then also you are required to file ITR. While filing your ITR ensure that you are using the correct ITR form to file it. If you file your ITR using wrong form, then it will be termed as a defective return as you will be required to file it again.

Income tax department notifies ITR forms for every assessment year. Assessment year is the year immediately followed by the previous financial year. For FY 2017-18, the assessment year is 2018-19.

ITR can be filed by downloading the software in excel or java utility. However, taxpayers who are eligible to file ITR-1 and ITR-4 also have the option to file it online without downloading any software utility.

While filing your tax return, make sure you avoid these common mistakes.

8. Verification of ITR
The last process of filing your ITR is verification. There are 6 ways to verify your ITR. Out of this, 5 are electronic methods and one is physical verification.

If you wish to verify your tax-return electronically, you will not be required to send any documents to the tax department. However, if you wish to verify your return physically, then you will be required to send a duly signed copy of ITR-V/Acknowledgement to 'CPC, Post Box no. 1, Electronic City Post Office, Bangalore- 560100, Karnataka, India.'

9. E-verification acknowledgement
Once you have received the acknowledgement of your e-verification, filing of your return is complete. You should receive an email confirming that your ITR-V has been received by the I-T department, i.e., your return stands verified. The email will be sent to the address you have registered in your e-filing account on the income tax department's e-filing website.

If you have sent ITR-V, then tax department will send you the intimation once your acknowledgement copy is received by them.

10. IT department will process return after verification
After receiving the ITR-V, either through e-verification or physical, the income tax department will process your return to ensure that all the details filed by you are correct as per the Income Tax Act and also cross-check the details filed by you with other data available with it.

Once processed, the I-T department communicates the same to you. In case any discrepancies are found, they may ask you to explain further or correct the mistakes made while filing the original ITR.