Watch: A Do-It-Yourself Guide To Filing Income Tax Returns

With the income tax filing date extended to 31 August, consumers now have time to file their returns on their own.

Since the income tax deadline has been extended to 31st August, why not try and file your Income Tax Returns on your own?

(Photo: The Quint)

A notification by the Central Board of Direct Taxation late on Thursday, 26 July, gave many a welcome sigh of relief. The deadline for filing income tax returns has been extended by a month to 31 August.

For those who would have otherwise made frantic calls to their chartered accountants or tax consultants, there's now more time. But as they say, there’s no avoiding death and taxes.

But now that you have some extra time, maybe you can attempt filing your taxes on your own. As Arvind Rao, chartered accountant and proprietor of Arvind Rao & Associates, demonstrates to BloombergQuint - all it takes is initiative and effort.

Get Started

The first step is to visit the e-filing website. You should ideally look for the clickable option to access the offline utilities. You will find them here.

Click “Income Tax Return Preparation Utilities” and download the Excel Utility for ITR-1. This is the form most individuals would require. It's for those who’re salaried, have a maximum of one house, and have an annual income of up to Rs 50 lakh.

The next step is to fill up the form. In this video Rao describes all the subsequent steps in great detail. Go ahead, get started...

(This article was first published on BloombergQuint)