2022-12-24 09:42:30

Digital Signature use for Income Tax Return

Introduction

A digital signature means an electronic signature that is used to verify the individual’s electronic documents. For example, a digital signature authorized you to file your income tax return without any complications and in a more safe way.

According to the Income Tax Act of 2000, a digital signature has the same status as your normal signature. It is used to attest your documents that relate to the income tax return and verify them without any fraud.

How to obtain Digital Signature

To obtain a digital signature you need a Digital Signature Certificate released by the Certifying Authorities sanctioned by the Controller of Certifying Authorities of the Government in India. In India, there are available approximately 10 Digital Signature Certificates certifying authorities like– NSDL, e-Madhur, Tata Consultancy Services, Capricorn, National Informatics Center, etc.

The Digital Signature Certificate comes as a USB token and most of the time has a validity of 1-2 years. You can renew your digital signature upon expiry and the price of the Digital Signature Certificate also includes the USB cost, the issuance cost of the Digital Signature Certificate, and the renewal fee after the expiration of validity. There is no fixed cost for the issuance of the Digital Signature Certificate and it is managed across the market by all the certifying authorities.

Types of Digital Signature Certificates

There are three types of Digital Signature Certificates which are as follows–

Class 1 Digital Signature Certificate: Digital Signature Certificate of Class 1 is issued to an individual or private subscriber to offer the guarantee of the lowest level. It can be used for both private and business purposes. It is used for digitally signing low-value or non-commercial transactions wherein id proof is not required.
Class 2 Digital Signature Certificate: This kind of Digital Signature Certificate is needed for filing electronic documents by different government authorities like; the Ministry of Corporate Affairs, Income Tax Department, etc. and it is used for the incorporation of companies, e-filing of income tax return, ROC filing, etc.
Class 3 Digital Signature Certificate: This kind of Digital Signature Certificate is used for participation in e-auction or e-tender. Different government entities like; Banks, Railways, Road Transport Authorities, etc. required Class 3 Digital Signature Certificates for participation in e-auctions.

Benefits of Having a Digital Signature

There are some advantages of having a digital signature which is given following:

It cannot be modified or edited.
It is an option of environment-friendly and does not waste paper.
Documents can be easily tracked and digitally signed.
With this, you do not need to verify the return by using an OTP that is based on an Aadhar card or send ITR – V’s signed hard copy to the CPC department that is situated in Bangalore.

In this way, the main benefit to use a digital signature at the time of e-filing the income tax return is the absolute privacy of your transactions and that transaction is online. The certificates can be used to encode all the information that can be read through the designated recipient only.

Elements of Digital Signature Certificate

The elements of the digital signature are mentioned below:

1. Name:

The most important part of a digital signature is the name of the person who is going to use the digital signature to authorize the documents for different purposes for example; e-filing of income tax with the Income Tax Return department.

2. Serial Number:

It is an important element of a digital signature and it is a unique number for assuring the activity of the digital signature. The certifying authority used the serial number for issuing the digital signature certificate.

3. Public Key:

All digital signatures have a particular public key that is linked with it and it is used to conceal and secure the document at the time of the authorization of the digital signature certificate. It plays a vital role in the verification process of the digital signature. The expiry date of the digital signature is provided by the associated public key.

4. Personal Information:

The digital signature as well contains some important information with the name like; contact number, residential address, email address, and office address for locating and contacting the person. All this information is provided in the encoded form and it is not accessible by everyone and maintains the privacy of the person.

How to sign the Income Tax Return with Digital Signature Certificate

Firstly, Register on the website of the Income Tax Department which is for e-filing of Income tax returns and has a URL such as ‘www.incometaxindiaefiling.gov.in’.
Secondly, At the portal of e-filing, log in on the registered account with the help correct user id and password.
Thirdly, after you are logged in then you go to the button on ‘My Account’ and click on the option of ‘Update Digital Certificate’.
Fourthly, It must automatically start to file download process with the name of ‘Store Certificate’. The copy of the Digital signature is locally saved on your computer or laptop.
Fifthly, now you are needed to go to the portal and then click on the option of ‘Upload your USB Token’. On the next page that has a button that asks to select the USB Token Certificate and then click on the option of ‘Browse’. Now opens a window where you have to select a file that you have downloaded.
Now you select the file and click on the option of ‘Okay’. After that provide the ‘PIN code’ that has the token of the password and then click on the option of ‘Sign’.

Conclusion

It concluded that to obtain a digital signature you need a Digital Signature Certificate released by the Certifying Authorities sanctioned by the Controller of Certifying Authorities of the Government in India. It is used to attest your documents that relate to the income tax return and verify them without any fraud. The Digital Signature Certificate comes as a USB token and most of the time has a validity of 1-2 years. You can renew your digital signature upon expiry and the price of the Digital Signature Certificate also includes the USB cost, the issuance cost of the Digital Signature Certificate, and the renewal fee after the expiration of validity.

eStartIndia is the best registration platform for services relating to Digital Signature Certificates apply in India.