Income Tax Portal, India – Features and Benefits

Rapid digitisation has altered the way governments function, and a prime example of that in India is the new income tax portal. On 7th June 2021, the Government of India introduced the new e-filing Portal of the Income Tax Department. The aim of developing such an online platform is to streamline income tax payments, making it convenient and accessible for taxpayers across the country.

This platform has truly revolutionised the way this whole process used to work. And today, paying income tax, tracking refund status and getting the necessary documents has been easier than ever.

Features of Income Tax Filing Portal

There are some salient features of the income tax new portal that everyone should know before they start using this platform:

• The new income tax portal will now issue detailed FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions), video, live agent and chatbox to help the taxpayers understand this new portal’s features.
• Now, the taxpayers can pre-fill their income, interest, dividends and capital gains, and it will be shown after SFT and TDS deductions.
• The portal also has reminders that will remind the taxpayers to complete all their pending filings.
• This new portal has all the latest online payment systems, like UPI, net banking, NEFT, credit card, RTGS, etc., integrated into it. It makes tax payments more accessible and more convenient.

Benefits of Income Tax Portal in India

Here are the leading benefits of using the income tax portal:

• The new portal is combined with the processing of ITRs that enable taxpayers to get a fast refund. This new software will be easy-to-use and taxpayer-friendly.
• This new income tax portal offers advantages like free ITR (Income Tax Returns) preparation software for ITR 1 and 4 (online and offline) and ITR 2 forms (offline).
• This new portal will allow the taxpayers to file the forms of income tax and submit the responses to different scrutiny, and these will also add various tax professionals.
• Taxpayers can upload all their professional details, which will be used later when it is time to file ITRs.
• The dashboard feature of the new portal will help taxpayers with various interactions. They can also check the pending requests through the dashboard.
• The new call centre clarifies all your queries about online income tax filing and makes it easier for you to pay taxes through the portal.

Read more: Advance Tax: Definition, How to Calculate & More

How to Register for the Income Tax Portal?

You must register with the income tax portal if you do not have an existing account. The steps are mentioned below:

Step 1: Visit the e-filing portal homepage and click on ‘REGISTER’.

Step 2: Enter your PAN under the ‘register as a Taxpayer’ option and then click on ‘Validate’. 

Step 3: Enter the mandatory details like name, date of birth, gender and your residential status.

Step 4: Now, enter your contact details, including your mobile number, email ID, address and click on ‘Continue’.

Step 5: Then, you will receive two separate OTPs in your mobile number and email address. Enter both of them and click on ‘Continue’.

Step 6: Revise the details and click on ‘Confirm’.

Step 7: Enter your desired password in the ‘Set password and Confirm password’ textboxes under the ‘Set password’ page. Write your personalised message and click on ‘Register’.

After you register to the income tax portal, you can login to the website by following the login guide described earlier in this article.

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How to Login to the Income Tax Portal?

There are a few methods by which you can log in to the income tax portal. These methods include:

• By using an e-filing password
• By using Aadhaar OTP
• By using net banking

Now let’s see how to log in by using these methods:

Login by using an e-filing password

Step 1: Visit the e-filing portal homepage and click on ‘LOGIN’.

Step 2: Enter your PAN in the textbox called ‘Enter your user ID’ and then click on ‘Continue’.

Step 3: Now confirm your ‘Secure Access Message’, enter the password and click on ‘Continue’.

After the successful validation, the e-filing dashboard will be displayed.

Login by using Aadhaar OTP

Step 1: Visit the e-filing portal homepage and click on ‘LOGIN’.

Step 2: Enter your PAN in the textbox mentioned earlier.

Step 3: Confirm your ‘Secure Access Message’ and enter your password. Now click on ‘Continue’.

Step 4: If you have OTP, then select ‘I already have OTP on mobile number registered with Aadhaar’. If the valid OTP is unavailable, then click on Generate OTP and continue.

Step 5: On the ‘Verify it’s you’ page, click on ‘I agree to validate my Aadhaar Details > Generate Aadhaar OTP’

Step 6: Enter the 6-digit OTP that you received on your mobile number registered with your Aadhaar and then click on ‘LOGIN’.

After successful validation, the e-filing dashboard will be displayed.

Login by using net banking

Step 1: Visit the e-filing portal homepage and click on ‘LOGIN’. If you are using net banking as a higher security option, then you will need to enter the user ID and password and click on ‘Through Net Banking’ on the page named ‘Higher Security Options’.

Step 2: If you didn’t opt for the e-filing vault Higher Security option, then click on the ‘Net Banking’ option at the bottom of the page.

Step 3: Choose your preferred bank and click on ‘Continue’.

Step 4: Go through the disclaimer and try to understand it. Then click on ‘Continue’.

Step 5: Log in to your own net banking account using the user ID and password

Step 6: After successful login, click on the link to the e-filing portal and you will be taken to the dashboard.

Read more: How to Pay Your Income Tax Online with Challan 280