File Tax Returns: Choose the best way

We are fast approaching the end of the financial year. Thoughts of filing your income tax return and paying taxes are already in your mind, aren't they? Going through the complexities of tax laws and legal terms can be quite confusing and time consuming. You need to know the best way to file taxes and get it over with! Let us try to find that "best way".

Filing Options

Broadly speaking, there are 3 ways to get your return prepared and filed with the income tax department:

Go to a CA/Tax Consultant
When you fall sick and cannot figure out how to treat the disease, you go to a doctor. That's because he is qualified to help heal you. In the same way, if you find taxes difficult, it is better to consult an expert who works on tax matters as part of his job. As he is a qualified tax professional, he would have a better grasp and understanding of the subject. Check the yellow pages or consult your friends/colleagues, visit the expert a few times and be ready to pay "professional fees" for working on your case. It may help you save some effort, but you still waste a lot of time visiting him or calling him up to explain your financial matters to him. But there is a better way…

Tax Preparation Software
Nowadays, you get many CDs in the market that help fill your details, calculate the taxes payable/refund due and convert the data into a computer-readable format that can be uploaded onto the government's income tax e-filing website. The software comes with all tax laws updated and mathematical formulae built-in. But there is a catch: your data has to be stored on a medium like the CD or the hard disk of your computer. If your system crashes, if you misplace the CD or if someone hacks into your PC, you can lose the data. Surely this can't be the "best way" we want to discover!

The Best Way is Online
When you prepare your income tax return online, for example using a website like Taxsmile, you are assured of data security. This is because Taxsmile stores your information on secure servers that are shielded from unauthorised intrusion. Not only this, there is a guided Question-Answer interface that asks you to enter specific information. There is help to show you where to locate the desired information. You also have expert review options just in case you want to be sure you have prepared an accurate return and claimed all available deductions. Of course, not all websites may offer these features. Visit www.taxsmile.com to find out more.

Online filing (or e-filing) is the quickest and easiest way to prepare and file your return. Once your return is prepared, at one click you can generate an e-return which you upload onto the government site yourself, after creating your profile there. You need to print 2 copies of the acknowledgement, visit the tax office and get 1 acknowledged copy back for your record. If you want to avoid the visit, choose to file using a Digital Signature. You'll get the final acknowledgement there itself. And that would complete the process of filing your income tax return - in minutes!