An Easy Guide to Check the Status of Your Income Tax Return

●       ITR filing is mandatory as per specifications

●       Check your ITR status using your login credentials

●       If not, check ITR status using PAN and ITR acknowledgment

●       Filing ITR helps in getting financing via a Home Loan

Filing your Income Tax Return (ITR) is a process of declaring your total taxable income for the given financial year, which includes all sources of earnings such as via investments, salary or revenue from a business. Taxes vary based on, and you should know the slab you fall under to compute the tax you need to pay. While filing of income tax return is mandatory if your annual gross taxable income exceeds Rs.2.5 lakh, you need to file an ITR even under other conditions such as when you need to claim a tax refund, if you have a financial interest in an entity outside India, when you pay an electricity bill of over Rs.1 lakh and more.

Whether you prepare your ITR offline and upload it online or are e-filing income tax returns online in entirety, remember that timely ITR filing can come in handy when you are applying for a loan. For instance, if you are planning to take a home loan to finance your dreams of being a homeowner, having your income tax returns in place can help you get the loan quicker as it attests to your income and reliability as a borrower.

You can file IT returns by downloading the forms available on the Income Tax Department’s official website. Once you have filed your income tax return, you can check the status online in two ways. Read on to know more.

How to check ITR status using your login credentials

Once you have completed the filing of Income Tax Returns online, you can use your login credentials to check the status of your IT returns.

●       Log in to the official Income Tax Department website

●       Click on ‘Dashboard’ from the menu

●       From the drop-down options, click on ‘View Returns/Forms’

●       Then select ‘Income Tax Returns’ and the assessment year from the and click on the ‘Submit’ button

●       View the status of your IT returns displayed on the screen

●       The status will either have ‘successfully e-verified’ or ‘ITR processed’

‘Successfully e-verified’ means that your ITR has been successfully verified. Once the processing is complete, in which case the refund, if due, is sent to you, you will see the words ‘ITR processed’.

How to check ITR status without using your login credentials

If you have misplaced the details of your login credentials, you can still check the status of your Income Tax Returns through the following steps.

●       Visit the official Income Tax Department website.

●       Click on the ‘ITR Status’ mentioned under the ‘Services’ tab.

●       You will then be redirected to a page wherein you will need to fill in your PAN card number and ITR acknowledgment number.

●       You then need to click on the ‘Submit’ button upon entering the captcha code.

●       View the status of your IT returns displayed on the screen.

Now that you know how to check the status after filing income tax returns, here is all you need to know about when you need to file ITRs and the documents you need to do so.

Who needs to file Income Tax Returns?

Here is the list of Indian citizens who need to file ITRs.

●       Individuals under the age of 60 and having an annual income exceeding Rs.2.5 lakh, excluding deductions

●       Senior citizens having an annual income exceeding Rs.3 lakh, excluding deductions

●       Super senior citizens having an annual income exceeding Rs.5 lakh, excluding deductions

●       Individuals who want to carry forward a loss or claim a tax refund

●       A resident who has a financial or beneficial interest in any asset or entity outside India

●       A resident who has signing authority in a bank outside India

The Budget 2019 mandates that the following are required to file ITRs in 2020-21 irrespective of income:

●       Individuals who withdraw from their current account more than Rs.1 crore annually

●       Individuals who pay Rs.1 lakh or more as their electricity bill

●       Individuals who pay more than Rs.2 lakh for international travel

Documents required to file IT Returns

While you may not need to submit all of the following documents for e-filing Income Tax Returns, you will need to refer to them to correctly file your income tax return. Experts further recommend that you store the receipts and certificates for future reference.

●       Copy of your PAN card and Aadhaar card

●       Proof of tax-saving investments and expenses, if applicable

●       Duly filled Form 16 (A/B/C, as applicable)

●       Your salary slips for each month

●       Your bank account statement

●       TDS certificate

●       Interest certificates (for a housing loan, FDs, etc)

●       Duly filled form 26AS

●       Proof of capital gains

●       Home loan statement from your financier

●       Proof of deductions under section 80D to 80U

In order to avoid a penalty, ensure that you file your income tax return every financial year. As explained above, filing ITR in a timely fashion also helps you get a loan easily.