A digital signature is an electronic signature used to sign documents digitally and validate their authenticity. DSC comes in the form of a USB token and has a validity of 1 or 2 years, after which it has to be renewed. A digital signature offers you an easy and hassle-free way of filing IT returns. Besides, it is also a very safe and secure way of filing the Income-Tax Return (ITR). These certificates are issued by Certifying Authorities approved by the Government of India. You can apply for digital signature with any one of such authorities.
If you are an individual, HUF, firm, LLP or a company, you must file the ITR using the DSC (Class 2). Before verifying the ITR using DSC, it is mandatory to register the DSC on the income-tax e-filing website.
Out of the three types of digital signature certificates issued by the certifying authorities, the Class 2 digital signature certificate is required for income-tax e-filing, company incorporation, ROC filings, etc.
How to Register the DSC on E-filing website?
To ensure that the authorized person verify the tax return, the Digital Signature Certificate has to be registered on the Income-Tax Department website. The following are the steps to register a DSC on the IT website:
Step 1: Visit the official website of the IT Department, www.incometaxindiaefiling.gov.in and login with your registered PAN and Password.
Step 2: Go to Profile Settings > Register Digital Signature Certificate from the main menu.
Step 3: From the landing page, download DSC Management Utility from the link given on that page.
Step 4: Extract the ZIP folder and open the DSC management utility.
Step 5: Go to the second tab Register using DSC in DSC Management Utility.
Step 5: Insert the DSC USB token in the USB port of your PC.
Step 6: Enter the User ID and PAN.
Step 7: Select the type of DSC and generate the signature file.
Step 8: Go back again to the e-filing portal and attach the Signature File on the page of Register Digital Signature Certificate and submit.
On successful registration, you will receive a confirmation mail on your registered mail ID.
Once, registration of DSC is complete, you need to verify the ITR, which can be done with the following process:
How to Verify your IT return using DSC
Step 1: Download the latest DSC management utility from the e-filing portal. Extract the zip folder and open the utility.
Step 2: Select Upload XML in the DSC management utility and Browse the XML File generated from Excel or Java Return filing Utility.
Step 3: Select the type of USB Token and generate the signature file.
Step 4: Go back to the e-filing website. Select the radio button of Digital Signature Certificate at the time of uploading of ITR XML file.
Step 5: Upload the Signature file along with XML file at the time of filing the return.
