How to pay income tax online and offline in India?

Steps to Pay Income Tax Online :

Step 1: Visit the Income Tax Network website e-Payment for TIN : i.e https://onlineservices.tin.egov-nsdl.com/etaxnew/tdsnontds.jsp

Step 2: Go to the option “CHALLAN NO./ITNS 280” click on the “Proceed” button.

Step 3: Fill the Challan No./ITNS 280 Details. Please keep in mind:

• Tax Applicable: Select option (0021)INCOME-TAX (OTHER THAN COMPANIES) incase of individuals.
• Type of Payment: Select the relevant tax payment. This table will help you determine the applicable option.

  Type Of Payment	Applicability
  (100) Advance Tax	It is required to be paid during the financial year, when your estimated tax liability is more than Rs 10,000. However, salaried employees are not mandatorily required to pay advance tax on salary income, as their TDS is already deducted.
  (102) Surtax	This option is rarely used at the time of making the tax payment.
  (106) Tax on Distributed Profit	It is required to be paid by the companies on the dividends.
  (107) Tax on Distributed Income	It is applicable in case of Buyback of shares by the Company from the Shareholders. Commonly, this is applicable when Mutual Fund distributes the Income to the Unit holders.
  (300) Self Assessment Tax	It is the tax that you pay after the end of the F.Y., but before filing your tax return.
  (400) Tax on Regular Assessment	It is to be paid when you get a demand notice from the Tax Department. This is normally used after the order passed under scrutiny assessment or demand under the intimation received as per section 143(1).

• Mode Of Payment: Choose how you want to pay using your debit card/net banking. Select the bank from the drop-down menu.
  
• Permanent Account No: Enter the PAN No. of the person for whom tax payment is done.
• Assessment Year: Carefully select the year for which you are paying taxes. (Assessment year simply means the year in which the assessment of the income of an assessee for the previous year is carried out in order to determine the tax)
• Contact Details: Enter taxpayer’s address, email id and mobile no.
• Captcha Code: Enter Captcha Code and click on the “Proceed” button.

Step 4: Then a confirmation window with a summary of your details will be shown. Re-check all your details carefully & then click on the “Submit To The Bank” button and then click on the “Edit” button if required.

Step 5: You’ll be redirected to the Net Banking Page. Login to your account.
Here, you need to enter your tax payment details like Tax, Surcharge, Interest etc. However, you can leave surcharge, education cess, interest and penalty blank. Click on the “Make Payment” option.

Step 6 : Once the payment is cleared, Challan 280 will be generated. This challan acts as a receipt of the payment of the tax done by you. While filing your ITR, you need to enter challan details like Amount, BSR Code, Challan Serial No. under the prepaid taxes column.

Offline Income Tax Payment steps

People who are unable to pay taxes online can pay taxes by visiting their respective bank branches.

• Visit your branch and ask for challan 280. Alternatively, download challan 280 online and fill it before visiting the branch to save time. The details explained are the same as explained in the online steps.
  (To download challan 280 click here)
• Now, go to the relevant counter and ask to deposit the challan along with the money. It is always advised to make payment via cheque rather than cash.
• Bank officials will give you the receipt after entering the payment details and stamping it.

Tip: Keep the tax receipt properly. You can also verify the amount of taxes paid by checking your Form 26 AS.Generally it takes 10 -15 days for data to be updated in Form 26 AS.

Things to remember while paying taxes

It is observed that people generally make mistakes at the time of payment of taxes. So, take a note of these points while paying taxes :

• Select the correct AY: Many people make mistakes at the time of selection of the assessment year. They often confuse the financial year with the assessment year. Remember assessment year is a year succeeding the financial year.
• Choose the right tax code: Often people choose the wrong code under “tax applicable” and “type of payment”.If you select the wrong code then tax payment will not be reflected in your account with the tax department, i.e. 26AS.

Tip: Keep the tax receipt properly. You can also verify the amount of taxes paid by checking your Form 26 AS.Generally it takes 10 -15 days for data to be updated in Form 26 AS.

We hope our guide has helped you in online payment of your taxes.At File My Tax online, it is our constant effort to simplify return filing procedures. For any help, reach out to our eCAs. For any further queries, contact us! Our experts will assist you and make taxation easy for you.