How to file Income tax return as a legal heir?

Application process of Legal Heir Certificate is taking time, Is there any way out for filing Income Tax Return of deceased by Legal Heir under Income Tax?

The process of obtaining Legal Heir Certificate from the civil court is quite time consuming depending upon the availability of the dates. For filing income tax return, in the meantime to, it is advised to obtain an Affidavit in the presence of Notary.

Notarized Affidavit is sufficient for filing income tax return by legal heir on behalf of deceased. However, for other purposes such as property matters, tax audit of deceased under Income Tax Act, etc., a Legal Heir Certificate obtained from the court is required.

Following Procedure is suggested:

• Firstly file an application to the civil court for getting Legal Heir Certificate.
• In the mean time, get an affidavit notarized on stamp paper of requisite amount.

           Documents required for affidavit-

• Death Certificate,
• PAN of deceased person,
• Self attested PAN of applicant.

Once you are done with Affidavit, you should register yourself as legal heir at www.incometaxindiaefiling.gov.in

Procedure for registration as Legal Heir for filing Income tax return on behalf of  Deceased person

• Step 1 − LOGIN to e-Filing application and go to ‘My Account’ –> Register as Legal Heir.
• Step 2 − Provide the necessary details and attach a zip file containing the below mentioned documents. Note: The zip file attachment should not exceed 1Mb.
• Copy of the Death Certificate,
• Copy of PAN card of the deceased,
• Self-attested PAN card copy of Legal Heir and
• Affidavit in presence of a Notary Public.(you can attach Legal Heir certificate if you already have it)

• Step 3  Click Submit.
• Step 4  The request will be sent to the e-Filing Administrator.
• Step 5  The e-Filing Administrator will verify the request and approve/reject as applicable. An e-mail is sent to the registered Email ID. E-Filing Administrator may approve as Temporary Legal Heir or Permanent Legal Heir, based on the documents provided.
• Step 6  One can view the status of his request by going to “My request” List tab.
• Step 7 On obtaining the E-filing Administrator's approval, and after adding his/her PAN in the verification part in ITR form, the return of the deceased can be uploaded through Legal Heir’s login.
• Step 8-Then, Legal heir has to validate and generate the return (in XML format) and upload the same using self login.

Temporary Legal Heir/ Permanent Legal Heir

A person is treated as a Temporary Legal Heir when the person fails to submit any one of the five Legal Heir certificates mentioned in Step 2. The Temporary Legal Heir is allowed only to upload ITR/Forms and will not be able to access all other services, which includes add CA to submit audit forms (other than ITR) on behalf of the deceased.

A person is treated as a Permanent Legal Heir when the person submits any one of the five Legal Heir certificates mentioned in Step 2.

• The Permanent Legal Heir may file Income Tax Returns/Forms,
• View Status of Income Tax Return/Forms, ITR-V Acknowledgment and other proceedings,
• Add CA to submit audit forms.

This is the small attempt to resolve your problems related to Legal Heir Certificate. I hope this is going to help you to file income tax returns and related procedures of deceased person by their heir.