Everything you should know about I-T Department's new e-filing portal
What's the story
The Indian government's Income Tax (I-T) department has started using its new taxpayer-friendly portal. The new website (www.incometax.gov.in) replaces the old one (www.incometaxindiaefiling.gov.in). On Saturday, the Finance Ministry said that the new portal includes interactive software that helps in filing Income Tax returns (ITR) and a call center for taxpayer assistance. Here are more details.
Dashboard
New portal will allow immediate processing of ITRs
An official statement said that the Income Tax Department has launched its new e-filing portal on June 7 aimed at providing a "modern, seamless experience to taxpayers." The new portal features integrated and immediate processing of ITRs to issue quick refunds to taxpayers. All interactions, uploads, and pending actions are displayed on a single dashboard to make the tax filing process intuitive.
Free software
Taxpayers can proactively update income details
The portal provides taxpayers with ITR preparation software free, which fields interactive questions to help taxpayers with ITRs 1, 4 (online and offline), and ITR 2 (offline). Facilities for ITRs 3, 5, 6, and 7 will be made available soon. Additionally, taxpayers can proactively update their details including salary, house property, and business/profession which can be used in pre-filling ITRs.
Details
Detailed pre-filling will be available after TDS, SFT statements uploaded
The "detailed enablement" of pre-filling with salary income, interest, dividend, and capital gains will be available after TDS and SFT statements are uploaded. The last date for uploading these documents is June 30, 2021. Besides this, functionalities for filing income tax forms, add tax professionals, and submitting responses to notices in faceless scrutiny or appeals would be available.
Convenience
New tax payment system will be launched on June 18
To make the platform more taxpayer-friendly, a new call center will be set up. Additionally, detailed answers to frequently asked questions (FAQs), user manuals, videos, and chatbots/live agents will be provided. The press release confirmed that the new tax payment system will be launched on June 18, after the advance tax installment date, to avoid inconveniencing taxpayers.
App integration
Fully-featured mobile app will be launched after portal's debut
The new I-T portal would feature payment options including RTGS/NEFT, Netbanking, UPI, and credit card. Lastly, a mobile app will be launched after the initial debut of the portal. The app will reportedly have all the features of the portal. The press release said that it may take taxpayers some time and patience to familiarize themselves with the new portal after its launch.