STEP BY STEP GUIDE TO FILE ITR1 SAHAJ FOR FY 2023-24

YOU CAN FILE ITR1 SAHAJ ON-LINE ON E-FILING PORTAL

WHO HAS TO FILE IT RETURNS ?

Every individual or Hindu Undivided Family ( HUF ) is obliged to submit Income Tax returns if they meet following criterion .

1. Income exceeding Rs 2,50,000 in case of individuals below 60 years
2. Income exceeding Rs 3,00,000 in case of individuals above 60 years and below 80 years
3. Income exceeding Rs 5,00,000 in case of individuals above 80 years

Note : Income means total income in the financial year 2023-24 before allowing deductions under chapter VI -A of Income tax act .

Further you have to submit your IT Return if you have

1. expended more than Rs. 2 lakh on foreign travel or
2. paid more than Rs. 1 lakh on electricity consumption in a year
3. deposited more than Rs. 1 crore in a current account in a year,
even if your income is less than the threshold limit .
​
Note : 1. If TDS / TCS has been collected from your account , you have to file your IT Returns to claim refund , even when you are not taxable for the year . If TDS or TCS collected is more than Rs 25,000 ( Rs 50,000 for the senior citizens ) , submission of IT Returns is mandatory .
2. If your income exceeds basic exemption limit , you have to submit your IT Returns even though you are not liable for any income tax . For example your income is below Rs 7.00 lakhs and you are not liable to pay tax on the basis of section 87A
3. You have filed your audit report , but not filed your IT Returns . You have to complete the process by filing the returns .
4. If you hold any asset outside India or beneficiary of any asset outside India or a signing authority for an account outside India , you have to submit IT Returns if you are a resident Indian .
​

WHO CAN FILE ITR1 FOR AY 2024-25 ? ITR1 FOR WHOM ?

ITR1 SAHAJ Form is to be used by a Resident individual whose:
• Total income does not exceed ₹ 50 lakh during the year fy 2023-24
• Income is from salary, one house property, family pension income, agricultural income (up to ₹5000/-), and other sources, which include:
o Interest from Savings Accounts
o Interest from Deposits (Bank / Post Office / Cooperative Society)
o Interest from Income Tax Refund
o Interest received on Enhanced Compensation
o Any other Interest Income
o Family Pension
• Income of Spouse (other than those covered under Portuguese Civil Code) or Minor is clubbed (only if the source of income is within the specified limits as mentioned above).

WHO IS NOT ELIGIBLE TO SUBMIT ITR1 ?

Who is not eligible to file ITR-1 for AY 2024-25?

ITR-1 cannot be filed by any individual who:
• is a Resident Not Ordinarily Resident (RNOR), and Non-Resident Indian (NRI)
• has total income exceeding ₹ 50 lakh
• has agricultural income exceeding ₹ 5000/-
• has income from lottery, racehorses, legal gambling etc.
• has taxable capital gains (short term and long term)
• has invested in unlisted equity shares
• has income from business or profession
• is a Director in a company
• has tax deduction under section 194N of Income Tax Act
• has deferred income tax on ESOP received from employer being an eligible start-up
• owns and has income from more than one house property
• is not covered under the eligibility conditions for ITR-1
3. What are the types of income that shall not form part of ITR 1 form?

Following are the types of income that shall not form part of ITR 1 form:-

(a) Profits and gains from business and professions;
(b) Capital gains;
(c) Income from more than one house property;
(d) Income under the head other sources which is of following nature:-

• winnings from lottery;

• Activity of owning and maintaining race horses;

• Income taxable at special rates under section 115BBDA or section 115BBE;

(e) Income to be apportioned in accordance with provisions of section 5A

4. Is it mandatory to define the nature of employment while filing of return?
​
Yes, it is mandatory to define the nature of employment while filing of return from the following:

• Central Government Employee

• State Government Employee

• Employee of Public Sector Enterprise (whether Central or State Government)

• Pensioners (CG/SG/PSU/OTHER)

• Employee of Private Sector concern

• Not applicable (in case of family pension income)

• DOCUMENTS REQUIRED TO FILE ITR1 SAHAJ FOR SALARIED PERSONS / PENSIONERS

• NECESSARY DOCUMENTS TO BE OBTAINED BEFORE FILING IT RETURNS
  
  a. You require following documents before starting to fill up IT Returns or to verify pre-filled IT Returns prepared by the income tax department . As some time is required to collect from the relevant issuers , you may contact them at the earliest if you have not obtained so far . If you don't have AADHAR , APPLY NOW AND OBTAIN ENROLLMENT ID OF AADHAR APPLICATION
  
  1. Your AADHAR NUMBER / CARD
  2.Salary certificate / Form 16 issued by employer in the new format ,
  3.Interest certificates issued by your banks for the deposits / education loans and housing loans etc
  4. Life Insurance premium certificates , health Insurance premium paid certificates ,
  5. Bank account statements for housing loans and savings bank accounts etc
  6. TDS Certificates from employers / Deposit holders
  7. Form 26 AS which shows the tax amount already credited to your account
  8. Copy of last year return submitted .
  9.Your bank name , account number and IFSC code of the bank branch .
  10. quarter wise information on Dividends received .
  11 . Any other relevant documents if you have any other income
  
  b. Link your Aadhar number to income tax e-filing website
  
  C. Verify Taxes paid already in Form 26AS and confirm that all tax deducted for you by your employer / bank as given in Form 16 or Salary receipt is credited to your account with income tax department . You can view 26 AS ( Tax Credit ) in the income tax department's website by logging in . Further you can al so download AIS ( Annual Information Statement ) from the income tax department's e-filing website and check all your financial transactions are correctly reported to the income tax department and is properly recorded in your account .
  
  ​ ​d. Tax returns are made simple now . If you are eligible to file IT Returns ITR 1 (SAHAJ ) , you can now prepare and submit on line itself on the income tax e-filing website or you may just verify the pre-filled form available on-line . You may yourself file on line or use or utilise the service of Tax Return Preparers ( TRPS ) authorised by Income Tax Department , if you are not confident of using the on -line services . Otherwise you may use your chartered accounts for the job .
  
  You should keep following details handy for yourself / your employer and your tenant
  
  Your Details
  1. Aadhar Number
  2. Mobile Number
  3. E-mail address
  4. Residential Address
  5. Passport Number ( If you have passport )
  
  Other Details :
  A. Have you deposited more than Rs 1.00 crore in bank accounts ?
  B. Have you incurred more than Rs 2.00 lakhs for Foreign Travel ?
  C. Have you spent more than Rs 1.00 lakh on electricity consumption
  (All the limits of outgo for the entire year ) For persons with salary income :
  
  6. Details of your Employer
  ​ a. TAN Number of the Employer
  b. Name of the Employer
  c. Nature of Employer
  d. Address of the Employer
  
  7. Details of all bank accounts held any time during the year
  a. IFSC Code of the bank
  b.Name of the bank
  c. Account number
  
  7. If you have let out a property
  a. Address of the property
  b Details of the tenant
  1. Name of the Tenant
  2. Tenant's Aadhaar Number
  3. Tenant's PAN Number
  
  The benefits of filing tax returns early is
  1. You will have sufficient time to collect relevant documents , prepare , cross check and then submit . You can reduce errors .
  2. As the income tax servers would be relatively free , last minute slowdown of computers due to heavy rush for submissions .
  3. Processing of your returns by IT department would be faster and you will get refunds faster .
  4. You will be avoiding penalties , interest etc levied on belated submission .
  
  So take steps now to have advantages of filing IT Returns early

HOW TO FILE ITR1 SAHAJ IN THE NEW INCOME TAX EFILING SITE ?

While filing the Income Tax return ITR1 , your primary job is to verify and correct various data provided to you by the income tax department . You have to verify

1. Personal Information
2. Gross Total Income
3. Total Deductions
4. Tax Paid
​5. Total Tax Liability

HOW TO FILE ON LINE IN THE NEW INCOME TAX E-FILING WEBSITE ?

The general procedure for submitting on-line in the new website is explained below :

1. GO TO NEW INCOME TAX E-FILING WEBSITE

2. IF REGISTERED ALREADY , LOGIN USING YOUR PAN NUMBER AND PASSWORD ( OLD PASSWORD USED IN THE EARLIER SITE IS VALID HERE ALSO ) . OTHERWISE REGISTER WITH YOUR PAN NUMBER

3. Link PAN and Aadhaar , if not already linked

4. Pre-validate at least one bank account and nominate it for refund (recommended)

5. Link your mobile number with Aadhaar / e-Filing portal / your bank / NSDL / CDSL (for e-Verification)

6. Income Tax forms would be prefilled by the Income Tax Department from the fy 2020-21 onwards . All you have to do is to verify the correctness of data before submitting .

7. You can file and submit your ITR through the following methods:
​
Online Mode – through e-Filing portal
Offline Mode – through Offline Utility

How to submit the IT returns on the e-filing website ?

a . Log in to the e-Filing portal using your user ID ( PAN Number ) and password.

b. On your Dashboard, click e-File > Income Tax Returns > File Income Tax Return.

c. In the next screen , Select Assessment Year as 2024– 25 , and " on-line ' and continue

d . Click on " Start New Filing '

e. Select ' Individual " and proceed

f. Select ITR1 Form and click on " Proceed with ITR1 "

g. Keep the required documents like Form 26as , AIS , Bank statements , House rent receipts , investment receipts , interest certificates etc and Click on " Let's get started "

h. Now answer the question " Are you filing the income tax return for any of the following reasons?

Reasons can be

a. Taxable income is more than basic exemption limit

b. Filing return of income due to fulfilling any one or more below mentioned conditions as per Seventh Proviso to section 139(1):Filing return of income

b1 . Deposited amount or aggregate of amounts exceeding ₹ 1 crore in one or more current accounts during the previous year;


b2. Incurred expenditure of an amount or aggregate of amount exceeding ₹ 2 lakhs for travel to a foreign country for yourself or for any other person;


b3. Incurred expenditure of amount or aggregate of amount exceeding ₹ 1 lakh on consumption of electricity during the previous year


b4 Are you required to file a return as per other conditions prescribed under clause (iv) of seventh proviso to section 139(1 )

k . You will be guided to pre-filled form and you have to validate the information therein :

Personal information : Profile , contact address , nature of employment ( Retirees have to mention what type of pensioners they are whether government or PSU or other etc ) , Filing section 139(1) .

l. You also have to mention whether you are opting for 115bac or not ( Before filling just check which is beneficial for you old tax regime with rebates or new simplified system with lower tax rates and without any rebates . Before answering , check which is beneficial for you by going to our webpage and finding the answer yourself

m . Now you confirm the personal information available / you have opted to .

n . Go to Gross Total income , check individual incomes and confirm the correctness of the entries .

o. Fill the deductions you are eligible under various rebates like 80C , 80d or others .

p. Confirm the total deductions you are eligible for .

q. Check the tax paid details and confirm .

r. Once you confirm total income , total deductions and tax paid so far , your tax payable amount will be shown .

s . Either you can pay now or pay later .
​
If you opt to Pay Later, you can make the payment after filing your Income Tax Return, but there is a risk of being considered as an assessee in default, and liability to pay interest on tax payable may arise.

l. Go and pay tax

m. After paying tax, click Preview Return. If there is no tax liability payable, or if there is a refund based on tax computation, you will be taken to the Preview and Submit Your Return page.

​n. On the Preview and Submit Your Return page, enter Place, select the declaration checkbox and click Proceed to Validation.

o. On the Complete your Verification page, select your preferred option of verifying immediately or later and click Continue.

p. Refer to How to e-Verify user manual to learn more.
​
If you select Verify via ITR-V, you need to send a signed physical copy of your ITR-V to Centralized Processing Center, Income Tax Department, Bengaluru 560500 by normal / speed post within 120 days.
Please make sure you have pre-validated your bank account so that any refunds due maybe credited to your bank account. ​

q. Once you e-Verify your return, a success message is displayed along with the Transaction ID and Acknowledgment Number. You will also receive a confirmation message on your mobile number and email ID registered on the e-Filing portal.

IMPORTANT NOTES :

1. Employers , banks , Stock holding companies , mutual funds etc have still time for submitting their data / information .

2. Hence form 26AS and pre-filled IT Return forms can undergo changes .

3. Hence it is prudent to wait for updating form 26as before filing IT Returns .

4. Last date to file is 31st ,July 2024

DETAILS TO BE VERIFIED IN ITR1 SAHAJ FOR FY 2023-24 :

ITR1 Sahaj for FY 2023-24 ( ay 2024-25 ) has 5 sections in it . They are

1. Personal Information
2. Gross Total Income
3. Total Deductions
4. Tax Paid
5. Total Tax Liability

1. VERIFY PERSONAL INFORMATION : This section will have following sub-sections :


1 Profile
2 Filing section
3. Are you opting for New or Old Regime ? ( Read below section carefully to note the implications of your answer )
4. Bank Details

You need to verify the pre-filled data which is auto-filled from your e-Filing profile. You will not be able to edit some of your personal data directly in the form. However, you can make the necessary changes by going to your e-Filing profile. You can edit your contact details, filing type details and bank details in the form.

2. VERIFY YOUR INCOME SOURCE DETAILS :

The details of your income already reported by your employers , banks , mutual funds & others would be pre-filled here from Form 26AS. You have to verify the correctness of the data . If there are errors , take up with respective organization . if you have any other income , you may add

3. VERIFY DEDUCTIONS CLAIMED :

If income tax departments knows about your tax exempt investments , for example through Form 16 , they would have pre-filled the section . However you may all the deductions & rebates you are allowed if deductions are not shown .

4. VERIFY TAX PAID :

Details of tax deducted at source , as reported in Form 26AS , would be shown here . Check all the taxes deducted by your employer or bank is properly credited to your account . if not take up with the concerned .


5. VERIFY TAX COMPUTATION :

The section will contain your total income tax liability as computed from the information available from earlier section .


Once you confirm , you may submit the form by going to income tax returns > file income tax returns . Choose ay as 2024-25 and select
filing type as on-line .

SELECT BETWEEN OLD AND NEW TAX REGIMES

While filing IT Returns , there is a question : Are you opting for new tax regime u/s 115BAC ?  Yes  No

Before filling just check which is beneficial for you old tax regime with rebates or new simplified system with lower tax rates and without any rebates . Before answering , check which is beneficial for you by going to our webpage and finding the answer yourself ​

SOME IMPORTANT POINTS TO BE NOTED WHILE FILLING ITR1

1. Name should be as per PAN card
​2. NATURE OF EMPLOYMENT :
Please tick the applicable check box-
(a) If you are a Central Government Employee, tick 'Central Govt'
(b) If you are a State Government Employee, tick 'State Govt'
(c) If you are an employee of Public Sector Enterprise (whether Central or State Government), tick 'Public
Sector Undertaking'
(d) If you are drawing pension, tick 'Pensioners'
(e) If you are an employee of Private Sector concern, tick 'Others'
(f) If you have income from Family Pension, etc., tick ‘Not applicable’

SALARY DETAILS :
List of types of salary payment :-
1. Basic Salary
2. Dearness Allowance (DA)
3. Conveyance Allowance
4. House Rent Allowance (HRA)
5. Leave Travel Allowance (LTA)
6. Children Education Allowance (CEA)
7.
7. Other Allowance
8. The Contribution made by the employer towards pension
scheme as referred under section 80CCD
9. Amount deemed to be income under rule 6 of Part-A of
Fourth Schedule
10. Amount deemed to be income under rule 11(4) of Part-A of
Fourth Schedule
11. Annuity or pension
12. Commuted Pension
13. Gratuity
14. Fees/ commission
15. Advance of salary
16. Leave Encashment
17. Others (please enter the details in the text box)
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In case of doubt in filling any column , you may take the help of clarifications given by the IT Department ,
by CLICKING HERE

MATCHING OF FORM 26AS WITH YOUR IT RETURNS

It is important to match the information in Form 26AS with the information you provide in the Income tax returns as any mismatch may attract lengthy / unwanted correspondence with the income Tax department later . Now Income Tax department will assist you with pre-filled forms for FY 2022-23 in their new e-filing portal . This will be backed with the information they receive which will also reflect in Form 26as . Hence it becomes easier for you to match the information in your IT returns with that of Form 26as .
.

To know how to download Form 26AS in the new website , CLICK HERE

INCOME TAX DEPARTMENT WARNS SALARIED PERSONS AGAINST WRONG DECLARATIONS WHILE FILING OF IT RETURNS :

As per amended section 270A of Income Tax act , mis-reporting of income may be fined 50 % of tax payable and it can go up to 200% if it is judged as concealment of income .

For 270A section of IT Act , CLICK HERE and fill 270A in section column

THIS ARTICLE CARRIES INFORMATION ON VARIOUS TAX PROVISIONS WHICH ARE GENERALLY USEFUL .YET IT DOES NOT CARRY ALL THE PROVISIONS AND HENCE YOU ARE ADVISED TO GO THROUGH INCOME TAX DEPARTMENT WEBSITES FOR AUTHENTIC COMPLETE INFORMATION . ESPECIALLY THOSE WHO HAVE GOT MULTIPLE STREAMS OF INCOME OR COMPLEX INVESTMENTS MAY CONSULT A QUALIFIED TAX CONSULTANT / CHARTERED ACCOUNTANT FOR ANY CLARIFICATION. READERS ARE ALSO WELCOME TO SEND FEEDBACK . YOU CAN DOWNLOAD THE FORM HERE . WE ARE OPEN FOR CORRECTION IF NEEDED