E-filing or electronic filing of taxes is the procedure of submitting income tax returns online. The income tax department has launched an independent portal for e-filing tax returns. The portal opens during a certain period every year when you, as a taxpayer, should file your taxes. The due date for filing tax returns is usually July 31st; however, the government has been known to offer a grace period of 15-30 days at times.
What is Manual Filing?
Manual filing is the conventional method of filing taxes. Earlier, taxpayers would typically file their tax returns either directly at the income tax office or through intermediaries such as chartered accountants or income tax agents. The procedure is still quite long and tedious.
How is e-filing Better?
Well, there’s nothing more convenient than smoothly brushing through serpentine government procedures from the comfort of your home! Most taxpayers prefer e-filing to manual filing of taxes. Yet those who aren’t tech-savvy are apprehensive of exposing their financial scoops on an online platform that they tend not to trust. Therefore, mymoneykarma is here to nudge you towards e-filing by telling you about the amazing benefits of e-filing.
Manual Filing Vs. e-filing
Simple Documentation
E-filing immensely reduces the hassles of paperwork as, unlike manual filing, you don’t need to gather documents from different sources physically. If you file your taxes manually, you would have to fill out an enormous pile of forms manually every year. In e-filing, once you file your returns, the online portal saves your record. Thus, e-filing becomes simplified henceforth as you get ready access to the previously stored information which is auto-filled into the fresh form.
Tracking e-filing Status
Filing ITR manually entails several rounds to the income tax office. The status of manual filing of returns can't be tracked online. You would have to bear the brunt of an extremely slow process across various departments and beat your head against the wall trying to find out the status of document submission and initiation of refund. E-filing is different. It lets you track the status of ITR through a couple of clicks at your convenience without having to visit the Income Tax office. The online tracking facility saves your valuable time and money.
No Calculation Errors
Manual filing, as the name suggests, requires you to make complicated calculations manually. You’d have to enter accurate details by calculating your income and tax deductions yourself. A teeny-tiny error may lead to massive tax liability. The online portal has an in-built data validation and tax calculation program that eradicates the chances of errors. Moreover, all the data entered by you is verified and saved in your e-filing account. The data is automatically retrieved when you file your taxes online in the next year, thus eliminating the risk of entering incorrect information.
Easy Refund
The essential aspect of e-filing is a quick refund process. The income tax department levies TDS (Tax Deducted at Source) from the salaries of employees, contractors, consultants, etc. that can be claimed for a refund by filing an income tax return. When you file your taxes online, the refund is disbursed within a few days of the submission. However, in manual filing, when the tax filing process itself takes much longer, how can you expect a quick refund disbursal?
Ease of Access to Documents
The e-filing portal saves all your relevant documents, such as income proof, home loan receipts, FD certificates, etc. These are stashed at one place when you upload them on the portal, which ensures their safety and accessibility. If you ever have an urgent need for any of these documents, you can immediately access them by logging in to your account on the income tax portal anytime. On the contrary, in case of manual filing, accessing the documents is a cumbersome job and there are higher chances of the authorities misplacing your records.
Time and Cost Saving Procedure
You might be wondering that apart from saving logistics cost, where else can e-filing save your money. Well, while filing for ITR manually, there are chances that you may fall in a trench of mistakes. As many taxpayers do, you might want to hire an expert. Expert advice comes at a cost. You can easily save that cost by e-filing your ITR online. The income tax portal will assist you in the process through instructions mentioned on their website and their help desk. e-Filing also reduces the time consumption in the tax filing process as you don't need to stand in long queues at the income tax office, especially when the deadline is knocking at your door.
Revising Errors
In manual filing, where you have to fill myriad forms, it becomes quite tedious to review each form, and rectifying a mistake that you have already committed is even more difficult. In e-filing, you can quickly review a form, correct it and upload it once you are done.
Grievance Redressal
If filing of tax returns manually is such a herculean task, then can you imagine what the manual grievance redressal system would be like? Consider a situation where you have to keep visiting the income tax office, stand in long queues each time and face the tantrums of the income tax department; yet there isn’t a guarantee that your problem will be resolved. Alternatively, e-filing lets you quickly contact the concerned department through the grievance redressal section of the website while sitting at home.
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