Income tax: How to file return online, step by step guide

A special order has been issued under the income tax law regarding the submission of income tax returns online.

According to this order, it is mandatory for all categories of individual taxpayers to file their returns online from the 2025–26 fiscal year.

This directive has been in effect since 4 August, and the deadline for submitting returns for the current fiscal year has been set on 30 November.

The obligation to submit returns online will not apply to the following categories of taxpayers:

1. Senior taxpayers aged 65 years or above

2. Physically disabled taxpayers (subject to certificate submission)

3. Persons working abroad

4. Legal representatives of deceased taxpayers

As per the National Board of Revenue (NBR) directive, all taxpayers must now file their returns via the designated online platform. However, the process of preparing and filing returns online is still new to many. So, let us look at the step by step guide on how to file income tax returns online easily.

To file tax return online, first visit the portal and click on the e-return option. If you are not yet registered, select ‘I am not yet registered’. You will then need to apply using your Tax Identification Number (TIN) and registered mobile number.

Once you confirm the one-time password (OTP) sent to your phone and set a password, registration will be complete. After registration, you can submit your income tax return online in seven steps. Let’s check out what you have to do in which step to file your return online.

Clicking the Assessment Information tab will open your online form. Here, the self-assessment return submission, the relevant tax year and assessment year will appear automatically. Then, you must confirm whether you are a resident or non-resident, and whether you had any tax-free income during the relevant year.

To complete this step, you will also need to indicate your sources of income. After selecting these and clicking ‘save and continue’, you will need to provide some additional details to move forward, such as location of income, tax rebates, deductions, and information of the IT 10B form.

In this step, you must provide details of your income according to its sources, including how much was earned from which source. For example, if you are a salaried employee, you must state your employer, designation, total salary and allowances, and whether you received any non-cash benefits.

In addition to salary, if you also earn profit from savings certificates, you must provide full details for that including registration number, issue date, purchase value, profit earned during the tax year, and tax deducted at source.

Once you click ‘save and continue’ after filling out details of income on the second step, you will arrive at one of the most important steps of tax return submission, investment and rebate calculation. Here you will see different categories of eligible investments. Select the correct category based on your investment and enter the required details.

This may include life insurance premiums, deposit pension schemes, approved savings certificates and government securities, unit certificates/mutual funds/ETFs/joint investment schemes, listed shares, general provident fund, recognised provident fund, approved pension funds, approved welfare funds and group insurance premiums, zakat funds, and universal pension schemes.

In this step, you must provide details of your expenditure during the relevant tax year. This includes house rent, household expenses, transport, utility bills, education expenses, tax payments, and expenses on festival allowances. Once information of all necessary expenses has been filled in, click save and continue to proceed to the next step.

When filing your return, it is crucial to provide accurate information about all your assets and liabilities. In this step, you must first declare your total assets for the previous income year. Keep in mind that providing incorrect or incomplete information here may lead to complications in the future.

The assets statement should include items such as, bank deposits; investments in savings certificates; shares, mutual funds, or other financial investments; cash in hand, gold, diamonds, gemstones, and other valuables; land, flats, or other immovable property; furniture, electronics, and equipment; business capital; assets held abroad; and other non-business funds.

Additionally, in the liabilities statement, you must provide information about all liabilities outside your business, such as loans from banks or financial institutions; personal or unsecured loans; outstanding credit card dues; and other obligations.

Pay special attention to ensure that there are no inconsistencies between your declared assets and liabilities, as errors or discrepancies may increase the risk of your return being audited. Therefore, it is essential to prepare in advance and provide all information and calculations accurately when filling out the assets statement form.

Once everything is correctly entered, click ‘save and continue’ to proceed to the next step.

In this step, you will see your total tax assessed for the current financial year. If the advance tax you have paid exceeds the assessed tax, you will not need to pay any additional amount. If the advance tax is less, you will need to pay the remaining balance.

At this stage, you will find a column titled ‘updated tax payment status’, where, you can provide detailed information on the advance tax paid to reflect the most up-to-date tax position. Finally, if the ‘final payment’ column shows ‘payable amount…’, it means you have fully settled your tax. Only then can you successfully submit your online return.

*Faisal Islam is a financial sector analyst.