e-Payment: Pay Tax Online – With all Benefits

E-Payment of Direct Taxes in India:

Keeping in line with the current popularity of online platforms, Income Tax Department too has stepped up its taxation filing process and made it a piece of cake for Indian taxpayers. Various direct taxes in the country can now be paid online without having to physically go to banks and stand in long queues.

Who all are Eligible to Pay Income Tax Online:

All taxpayers with an online banking account with an authorized bank can pay his or her income tax online. The IT Department has authorized only a few public as well as private sector banks for receiving e-payment of income tax.

NOTE: There are two tax paying entities that are specifically required to pay tax only via online medium. These are:

• All the corporate assesses
• All assessees who come under the purview of section 44AB of the Income Tax Act

Advantages of Online Payment of Income Tax:

There are surely some advantage attached with the e-payment of income tax. Some of these benefits are listed below.

• Payment of income tax can be made from any location and at any time convenient to the taxpayer
• Challan details are directly sent to the Income Tax Department without banks going through the hassle of data entry at their end
• Instant transfer of tax happens through your bank account
• The challan and receipt copies can be downloaded and saved for future reference
• A clear receipt for tax payment is received as soon as the income tax amount is deducted from your online bank account
• Online enquiry of whether your tax amount has reached the IT Department can be made via the official website of the Income Tax Department

Steps to pay your Income Tax Online:

Following is a step by step guide to online payment of income tax.

Step 1: Login to the NSDL-TIN website

Step 2: Click the icon for e-payment

Step 3: Select the required challan which in case of income tax payment is ITNS 280

Step 4: After selecting chalan you will be redirected to the screen for entering the following data

• PAN for non-TDS payments
• Name and address details of taxpayer
• Year of Assessment
• Major head code
• Minor head code
• Type of payment
• Select the bank from the drop down available on the screen

Step 5: After all the details listed above have been entered, click the Proceed button and all the entries that you have made will be displayed for you to verify.

Step 6: Verify the entered details and click “edit” if you want to change any filled detail else click the “Submit” button which will redirect you to the online banking page of the selected bank

Step 7: On the online banking platform, just fill in your login id and password for online banking and then proceed to fill the amount of tax that you intend to pay.

Step 8: Once the payment of tax amount is done, the same amount will be deducted from your bank account and the bank website will display a confirmation receipt page for you to print and keep for the sake of acknowledgement. The acknowledgement you receive will contain the CIN which is Challan Identification Number which can be used to verify the status of your tax payment.

List of top banks that offer E-Payment facility for Income Tax:

Listed below are some of the public and private sector banks in India that are entitled to provide an e-payment platform to taxpayers for payment of income tax. The NSDL-TIN website can be checked for details about all banks listed as authorized for receiving e-payment of income tax on behalf of the Income Tax Department

• Allahabad Bank
• Axis Bank
• Bank of India
• HDFC Bank
• ICICI Bank
• State Bank of India and its affiliate banks
• Punjab National Bank
• Oriental Bank of Commerce
• Vijaya Bank
• UCO Bank

E-payment of Service Tax in India:

With effect from 1^st January 2014, online payment of service tax has been made mandatory for assessees who have paid more than one lakh rupees as service tax in the previous financial year. As for online payment of income tax, e-payment of service tax too is done via online banking partner banks.

Steps to file Service Tax Online:

Following is a step by step guide to online payment of service tax in India

Step 1: Login to the NSDL-TIN website

Step 2: Click the icon for e-payment

Step 3: Enter your 15-digit Service Tax Registration Number as furnished by the Income Tax Department

Step 4: Enter the captcha code being prompted on the NSDL website

Step 5: Based on the input an online verification of your details entered will happen to check whether the registration number is valid. Once verification is successful, your details as saved in the Assesses code master will be displayed on the screen

Step 6: You can now select the accounting codes for which you are filing tax and then select the service for which tax is being paid

Step 7: Next select the education cess that is applicable

Step 8: Submit the above input details

Step 9: After submission, you will be prompted to select your bank of choice

Step 10: Select the bank name which will now take you to the bank’s website wherein you will be required to input your login and password for online banking

Step 11: Fill in the amount and carry out the transaction for service tax payment. Once this payment is done, the page will show a confirmation receipt with Challan Identification Number for future tracking and reference.

Step 12: Save the receipt and use the CIN to track the status of the service tax paid by you.

Step 13: In case of excess payment of service tax, taxpayer can either get it adjusted against tax for the next fiscal or can raise a refund request for the same and get it refunded.