On Monday, the income tax department launched a new portal e-filing 2.0 (www.incometax.gov.in), which will make the online filing of returns and tax payment easier.

The new portal can be accessed by taxpayers in various regional languages.

The income tax department also asked taxpayers to re-register their DSC (Digital Signature Certificate), update personal mobile number and email ID under 'primary contact', act on 'pending action', if any, and respond to 'outstanding demand'.

What is a Digital Signature Certificate (DSC)?

A DSC is an electronic form of your signature. Electronic documents such as e-forms, e-tenders and e-applications are required to be signed digitally. A licensed certifying authority can issue these (under section 24 of the Indian Information Technology Act, 2000). For taxation purpose, in certain cases, it is mandatory to e-file ITR using digital signatures.

Why do you need to re-register DSC?

The earlier digital signature (DSC) registration on the old portal cannot be migrated due to security and technical reasons

What does a Digital Signature Certificate (DSC)

DSC enable the “authentication" and “non-repudiation" of digital documents. It gives the surety about the person who has sent the document and that the contents of the document have not been changed.

E-filing 2.0

Once a registered user logs in to the portal, the dashboard would show details of e-proceedings. Also, taxpayers can view, edit and update their personal details under the 'my profile' menu. It will also have a free ITR preparation software with interactive questions to help taxpayers file ITRs 1, 4 (online and offline)

There are over 8.46 crore individual registered users of the I-T e-filing portal.