The Income Tax Department is going to launch its new e-filing portal on 7th June 2021 to make the routine ITRs filing process easier and hassle-free. This is another initiative by the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) towards providing ease of compliance to its taxpayers and other stakeholders. In preparation for this launch and migration activities, the existing portal of the IT Department would not be available to taxpayers as well as other external stakeholders for a brief period of 6 days i.e. from 1st June 2021 to 6th June 2021.
What is New in the Advanced Portal
- Easy filing of ITRs and speedy processing to avail returns and refunds on the ITRs is an important upgrade to the site.
- Enhanced security, along with multiple ways to log in to your account.
- Improved, user-friendly dashboard that is simple to navigate. The interface is readable and the very role-based, categorized menus assist the processing of commands and edits made to your profile.
- The ‘Help’ section is the most notable feature. It hosts a myriad of videos and other forms of content like articles, user manuals, detailed FAQs, that aid in understanding the workings of the site as well as the procedures on the site.
- Adding on to the Help, the updated site also has a dedicated call centre for taxpayer assistance. A chatbot and live agents on request are always active to help with the queries and functionalities.
- Alongside a multitude of ways to log in and ensure the security of your account, there are equally many ways to pay your taxes and seek returns. Filing ITR forms 1 and 4 (online and offline) and ITR form 2 (offline) can be done using free of cost software that easily and swiftly processes the tax requests. CBDT mentioned that the facilities for ITRs 3, 5, 6, and 7, facilities will soon be made available.
- The dashboard interface also makes it easier for the user to update and keep track of personal details without a hitch of doubt. The dashboard also provides updates about pending actions, interactions, and uploads the user is yet to take action upon.
- Soon after the transitions from the older site to the newer are done and the users are acquainted, the MoF promised to roll out a mobile application for Android and iOS.
Features Of New Income Tax E-Filing Portal
- ITR Processing: The new user-friendly portal will immediately process a taxpayer’s income tax return. This will enable faster refunds to the taxpayers.
- Free ITR Preparation Software: The taxpayers will benefit from the free ITR preparation software – Excel-based as well as Java based utility. Every year after considering the changes in ITR forms, the department releases the ITR forms specific to each financial year. Taxpayers can prepare returns by downloading the ITR preparation software or also prepare and submit online within the website itself. The interactive questions available in the software will make the e-filing process simpler.
- Call Centre Services: The new web portal is integrated with a ‘new call centre’ for immediate response to queries. Additionally, detailed FAQs, tutorials, videos, and chatbot/live agents address taxpayers’ issues.
- Single Dashboard Interaction: A taxpayer can see all the interactions, uploads, and pending actions in a single dashboard along with the follow-up action.
- Multiple Payment Options: The new portal offers multiple payment options for taxpayers. These options include RTGS/ NEFT, credit card, UPI, and net banking via any taxpayer’s account in any bank. It has enabled easy tax payment.
- Mobile Application: The income tax department has launched the Aaykar Setu app that helps taxpayers understand taxation and provides solutions to many of their queries. The app was launched in July 2017. The app provides utilities such as Ask IT (answers to your queries), Tax calculation Tools, Apply for PAN online, Pay your taxes online, Tax Gyaan etc.,
- Pre-filled ITRs: The new portal allows the pre-filling of some details related to certain incomes. These can relate to Salary, house property, business/profession, etc. In addition, it enables the detailed pre-filling of details of Salary income, interest, dividend, and capital gains. The pre-filling will happen when the concerned entities upload the TDS and SFT statements.
- Annual Information Statement (AIS): It consists of a comprehensive view of information for a taxpayer displayed in Form 26AS. Taxpayers can provide feedback on information displayed in AIS. AIS shows both reported value and modified value (i.e. the value after considering taxpayer feedback) under each section (i.e. TDS, SFT, and Other information).
- The National Faceless Appeals Centre (NFAC): It has been set up to implement the Scheme and facilitate the centralized conduct of e-appeal proceedings. This includes assigning appeals for disposal to Commissioners of Income Tax (Appeal) units through an automated allocation system.
- Electronic verification: Taxpayers can electronically verify their returns using methods such as Aadhaar OTP, net banking, or digital signature.
- Communication with the Income Tax Department: Taxpayers can receive notices, updates, and communicate with the Income Tax Department through the portal. The notices, responses/submissions and orders etc., will be available within the income tax portal itself, without the requirement to chase behind the income tax officials.
- Pre-validate bank account to get income tax refund: Upon the filing of ITRs, the income tax department will review them and process the refund, if any. Such refunds are now transferred electronically to your bank account linked with your PAN.
Taxpayers Update
- Re-register their Digital Signature Certificate (DSC) as the old registered DSCs are not migrated due to security issues.
- They are advised to update the user ID and mobile number under primary contacts in their profile,
- Link Aadhaar and pre-validate bank account if not done previously and
- Reset e-Filing Vault Higher Security Options
FAQs
When did the income tax department launch e-filing portal 2.0?
The e-filing portal 2.0 was launched on 7th June 2021.
What are the services that taxpayers can access pre & post login to the new IT portal?
Taxpayers can access options on the bar like Home, Individual/HUF, Company, Non-Company, Tax Professionals & Others, along with additional options called Downloads and Help before logging in to the new portal.
Moreover, taxpayers can find quick links to verify Aadhar, link Aadhar, know ITR status, etc. There are a plethora of user-friendly videos below these options. And, there is a chatbot right next to it that can be used to seek further assistance.
However, taxpayers must register themselves on the portal to access all these services. After registering, they can access the post-login features.