Income tax return deadline in 10 days, how to submit return online

Individual taxpayers have only 10 days left to submit their annual income and expenditure statements through their income tax return. All taxpayers must file their returns by 30 November.

With a few exceptions, the National Board of Revenue (NBR) has made online submission mandatory this year. Therefore, taxpayers will no longer be able to submit returns by visiting tax offices in person.

At present, the country has approximately 11.5 million (1 crore 15 lakh) Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN) holders. Any TIN holder with taxable income is required to file an income tax return.

Below is a step-by-step explanation of how to submit your return online.

All taxpayers must file their tax returns through this website. To do so, you must first complete a registration process. After registration, you can log in using your password and submit your tax return online.

You are not required to upload any documents when submitting your income tax return electronically. Providing the necessary information is sufficient. However, you must retain all supporting documents, as they may be required later for audit or verification purposes.

For example, salaried individuals must keep a bank statement showing all transactions for one full year as proof of salary and allowances. This statement must cover the period from 1 July of the previous year to 30 June of the following year. 

While submitting your return online, you can pay your taxes directly from home. Payment can be made through bank transfer, debit card, credit card or mobile financial services such as bKash, Rocket, Nagad or any other MFS application.

You will need information from various documents when preparing your return. Therefore, it is important to gather all necessary documents before filling in the online return form.

Key documents include, proof of salary income, certificates of interest income from securities, rental agreements, municipal tax receipts, certificates of interest paid on mortgage loans, sale or purchase agreements and receipts for capital assets, supporting documents for capital expenditure, dividend warrants for share dividends, certificates of tax deducted at source on interest income.

If you wish to claim tax rebates for investments, you will also need documents such as, receipts for life insurance premium payments, certificates for contributions to provident or pension funds, proof of investments in bonds, debentures, savings certificates or shares, deposit pension scheme (DPS) receipts, welfare fund contribution certificates, group insurance premium certificates, certificates for contributions to Zakat funds.