How to Register DSC in New Income Tax Portal?

Ashish M. Shaji

22 Jun, 2021

Recently the Income Tax Department launched a new E-filing portal. After it was found, the income tax department asked all taxpayers to register their DSC on the new portal. The new e-filing portal was developed by the IT department to file online returns and to make paying tax easier for the taxpayers. Scroll below to know how to register DSC on the new Income Tax Portal. 

Overview of Digital Signature Certificate (DSC)

The Digital Signature Certificate is the taxpayers’ electronic signature which is linked to the PAN Card of the user. The DSC can be used as an online signature, and it can be used to sign online documents like e-forms, e-applications. It is also used for many IT Dept processes. The DSC is used as virtual authentication for signing documents online. 

According to Section 140 of the Income Tax Act 1961, the person responsible for signing the IT return can be:

• The Managing Director or any other Director (if the MD is unavailable) in case of a Company;
• Any authorized person having legal power of attorney in case of a Non-resident Company;
• Managing Partner if it’s Firm or any other Partner if the Managing Partner is unavailable;
• Principal officer/Chief Executive Officer or Competent person in case of entities like Association of persons, Artificial Juridical person, Local Authority, Body of Individuals, Trust etc;
•  Karta in case of HUF; Self in case of Individual or; any authorized person having legal power of attorney if the individual is not capable of signing the IT Return.

If a person wishes to sign the Income Tax Return digitally should complete the registration process for DSC on the e-filing website (www.incometax.gov.in) before signing. Any person can change or update their DSC registration any number of times.

Register DSC: Essentials for DSC Registration

To register the DSC, the taxpayer must be having the following:

• A valid user ID and password;
• Downloaded and installed e-msigner utility;
• The USB token from a Certifying Authority provider has to be plugged to the computer;
• The DSC USB token should be Class 2 or Class 3 Certificate;
• DSC to be registered must be active and not expired, and the DSC should not be revoked.

Procedure to register DSC on the new IT portal

According to the new rules of the IT Department, all taxpayers are required to resubmit their digital signature certificates on the new IT Department website yet again. The Income tax department has also requested all taxpayers to update their personal mobile number and email ID under the ‘primary contacts’ option on the new website- www.incometax.gov.in. In this segment, we have discussed how you can register DSC on the new Income Tax Portal. 

The following procedure should be followed:

• Step 1 – Firstly, taxpayers are required to visit the official website of the e-filing portal – www.incometax.gov.in
• Step 2 – Then, the taxpayers will be required to log in to their accounts with their PAN Card ID and password. Here the OTP may be required for logging in. 
• Step 3 – After logging in, taxpayers will see the ‘My Profile’ option on the homepage of the website. 
• Step 4 – Click on that option. When clicking on the option ‘My Profile’, many new options under the ‘My Profile’ option will open up. 
• Step 5 – Among all the options, one of the options under ‘My Profile’ would be ‘Register DSC’ option. 
• Step 6 – Clicking on that option will take you to a new page where you have to enter your registered email id that is linked with the PAN Card. 
• Step 7 – Click on the option that shows ‘I have downloaded and installed e-msigner utility’ and then click enter. 
• Step 8 – Select the appropriate DSC option and provide your password.
• Step 9 – Click on the DSC to verify and update it. 

What is the importance of DSC?

The Digital Signature Certificate allows “authentication” and “non-repudiation” of digital documents on the e-filing portal. It provides surety about the taxpayer and the documents submitted by such taxpayer. It is issued with a 1 year or 2 years of validity period, depending on the nature of transactions.

Conclusion

All taxpayers are required to register DSC on the new portal. The new e-filing portal was developed by the IT department to file online returns and to make paying tax easier for the taxpayers. The DSC is used as virtual authentication for signing documents online.

Read our article:Information concerning Defective Income Tax Return in ITR E-Filing 2.0