While filing your return, it is important that you pick the right form to file your income tax return (ITR). This is because if you use the wrong form then your tax return will be termed as 'defective' by the tax department at the time of processing and you will have file a revised tax return.

For most salaried individuals, ITR-1 is usually used by them to file their ITR. And for financial year 2018-19, ITR-1 has to be used by those individuals who have income from salary/pension, one house property, and income from other sources. Click here to know which ITR form is applicable for you for FY 2018-19.

However, if you have made capital gains or own one more than one house property, then you are not eligible to file ITR-1.

Documents need to file ITR
Before you start to file your ITR, you should collect the required documents such as Form-16, interest certificates, details of interest earned on all the savings account held with a bank or post office and so on. Click here to know all the documents required to file the ITR.

How to file your return
There are two ways to file ITR-1. One option is to download the form as an Excel utility from the e-filing website, fill in the information required, generate an XML file and then upload it on the income tax department's e-filing website.

Another option is to 'Prepare and Submit Online'. Here you do not have to download any software utility as you are required to enter the information directly on to the ITR-1 form online and submit it on the income tax e-filing website. Only those who are eligible to file ITR-1 or ITR-4 can file their return using this option.

To file ITR-1 online on the e-filing website of the income tax, you must be a registered user. Click here to know how you can register on the e-filing website of income tax department.

Once you have registered yourself, you can login to your account to file your ITR. Remember, your user ID is your PAN. After logging in to your account, you are required to select 'Filing of Income Tax Return' and you will be re-directed to a new page where you will have to select the following from the drop down menu:
Assessment year - 2019-20
ITR Form No. - ITR-1
Filing Type - Original/Revised Return
Submission mode - 'Prepare and Submit Online'

Don't forget to select the pre-valdiated bank account where you wish to receive your income tax refund, if any. Also, select the bank accounts that are to be reported in while filing ITR. In case you have closed any of your bank accounts in the previous FY, then you don't need to select that account. Select the tick box under the 'Bank Account details' section if you wish to file your ITR using a form in Hindi language.

In the ITR-1 form, your PAN, name and date of birth will be pre-filled. Certain information such as address, mobile number, email ID and tax details from Form-26AS will be pre-filled. But if you spot any errors in these fields, then you can edit them.

In a bid to make ITR filing process easier for taxpayers, the department has started providing pre-filled returns to the taxpayers filing their tax return using ITR-1 on the online platform. The platform will have pre-filled information such as name, Aadhaar details, salary details and so on.

Tax department will pre-fill your salary details in ITR-1

The online ITR-1 form on the website is divided into seven tabs:
General Instructions
Part - A General Information
Computation of Income and Tax
Tax Details
Taxes Paid & Verification
Donations -80G
Donations - 80GG

Before you start filling the form, it is important that you read the 'General Instructions'. This will help you to know the format in which you are supposed to enter the data. For example, dates have to be entered in DD/MM/YYYY format.

Part- A General Information
In this part of ITR-1, you are required to provide general information such as name, PAN and so on. Most of these details as mentioned above will be pre-filled. You must check and ensure that these are correct.

If there is a mistake in any of the editable fields (mobile, email ID, address) then enter the correct information. Ensure that you have correctly selected the nature of employment and section under which return is filed, i.e., 139 (1) - On or before Due Date.

Once you have checked and filled all the information in all the required boxes, next step will be to fill in the details of income - from salary, house property and other sources, as applicable.

Once income details and tax-saving benefits are declared, your tax payable amount will be calculated automatically by the portal.

The fourth tab is tax details section. This section will show the tax deducted from your employer/bank. If any self-assessment tax/advance tax paid, this will also be reflected in this section. Click here to know how to fill tax details section in ITR-1

The fifth section is Taxes Paid and Verification. Here check the final calculations of tax. The final tax calculations will show you if you are required to pay any additonal tax or tax refund is due to you.

Select the bank accounts that are required to be reported in your ITR. If you have closed any bank account in the previous year, you can also delete the same.

Once bank accounts are selected, select the option using which you wish to verify your income tax return. Click here to know the 6 ways to verify your income tax return. Once you click on 'Submit', the e-filing website will re-direct you to the option selected by you for verifying your ITR.

If you have made any charitable donations during FY 2018-19, then you are required to claim tax benefit on such donations in sixth or seventh, i.e. 80G or 80GG, tab as applicable.