How to File Income Tax Return of a Deceased

Step by step process to file Income Tax Return (ITR) of a deceased.

Process to Register as Legal Heir

Filing ITR

The Legal heir of the deceased is eligible to file ITR of the deceased.

Documents Required:

Generally, Documents required to Register as Legal Heir is one of the most critical step of the whole filing process. All the documents mentioned below shall be scanned and be added to one ZIP file whose size must not exceed 1 MB. The documents required are as follows:

Copy of death Certificate

Copy of PAN Card of the deceased Self-Attested PAN Card

Copy (Legal Heir)Legal Heir Certificate

Documents accepted as Legal Heir Certificate are as follows:

The legal heir certificate issued by court of law. The legal heir certificate issued by the Local revenue authorities. The certificate of surviving family members issued by the local revenue authorities. The registered will. The Family pension certificate issued by the State/Central government.

The certificate of surviving family members issued by the local revenue authorities, is the most common certificate available. This certificate will usually be in the regional language, so the Legal Heir will be required to translate it into English/Hindi, and duly notarized the same.

Process to Register as Legal Heir:

Step 1: Go to Income Tax Dept.’s Website –https://incometaxindiaefiling.gov.in

Step 2: Login to e-Filing portal using Legal Heir Credentials

Step 3: My Account – Register as Legal Heir

Step 4: Requesting

Select the Type of Request–New Request

Enter the details of Deceased, Select the files to upload, Attach a Zip File containing PDF of the scanned documents, mentioned in “Documents Required”

Click Submit & You will get Acknowledgement from the Dept. with a Transaction ID

Step 5: Checking the status of request.

My Request List – My Request List

Select the Type of Request – Add Legal Heir Request

Click submit

The status of the request can be seen here. There are 3 types of status that can be seen, Pending, Rejected and Approved.

In case of Rejection, Dept. will provide the ground for such rejection, which can be viewed by clicking on Transaction ID

After completing the whole process and once the requested is approved, you will be able to use all the services for yourself (Legal Heir) and for the Deceased.

Filing ITR:

Download the Scheme of ITR Form applicable to the deceased, fill the ITR Form and Generate XML file.

Filing Process:

Go to Income Tax Dept.’s Website –https://incometaxindiaefiling.gov.in Login to e-Filing portal using Legal Heir Credentials

Go to e-File – Upload Return

Fill the details and select the XML File

PAN: Select the PAN of Deceased (Note: Dropdown list will show both PAN, Legal Heir as well as of Deceased)

ITR Form Name: Select the ITR Form to upload (i.e. ITR 1, 2, etc….)

Select Assessment Year

Upload the XML File

Legal Heir can digitally sign the ITR of Deceased using his/her DSC

Click Submit

Select the e-Verify Option, as per your choice ( Note: I have selected “Option4 – I would like to Send ITR-V/ I would like to e-Verify later”)

Download ITR-V (if not e-Verified) Verify and send the Signed ITR-V to the CPC center,