If you don’t know already, the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) of the Indian government unveiled a new income tax portal in 2021. As a result, the previous portal “incometaxindiaefiling.gov.in” has been replaced by the new portal, which you visit by putting “incometax.gov.in” in your web browser.
As it stands, it is now mandatory for taxpayers to re-register their DSC or Digital Signature Certificate in the new IT portal. In this article, we will lay out the instructions for registering DSC on the new income tax portal.
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Everything You Must Know Regarding Filing DSC
A DSC is necessary for e-tax filing individuals to sign income tax forms, returns, and other documents, especially where users are required to authenticate themselves. DSC is key to the online verification of any individual taxpayer or an organization’s identification.
In this regard, it is worth noting that registering for DSC is not mandatory for all types of taxpayers. Instead, only a specific class of taxpayers are required to undergo this process. For instance, a digital signature certificate is required for business organizations and political parties to electronically validate their IT returns. Also, individuals whose accounts book requires a tax audit must e-verify their tax reports using DSC.
Benefits of DSC Digital Signature Certificate
As we venture into a digital economy, the importance of DSC cannot be ignored. There are numerous benefits of getting a DSC.
- Saves time: Now you can sign documents with just a single click, irrespective of the number of documents. This saves a lot of time.
- Superior security: No more threats of fraudulent activities as DSC ensures the verification of your signature, minimizing instances of document alteration.
- Legally valid: Digital signature certificate is used as a legally valid authenticity detection tool. In case of fraud, you can use DSC in court as evidence.
Prerequisites for DSC Registration
Before we discuss the requirements for DSC registration, remember that taxpayers must have a working user login credentials and most importantly, they must be registered on the e-filing system. Here are the requirements for registering your DSC on the new income tax portal:
- Your DSC USB token must have a Class 2 or 3 certification
- The digital signature certificate must be current and not out of date
- DSC shouldn’t have been revoked
- You need to first download Emsigner tool and then install it
How you can register DSC in the new income tax portal
Let us assure you that the process of registering for DSC is quite simple. However, before you proceed, ensure downloading the Emsigner tool and log in to the income tax portal. Here are the steps for Emsigner tool download:
- Visit the website “https://www.incometax.gov.in/”
- Go to the “Downloads” tab
- Click the “DSC management utility” link
- Click the “Utility (emBridge)” link (Once the download has finished, click the file to start the installation procedure. The download part happens almost instantly.)
Now that you have successfully downloaded the Emsigner application and plugged in your DSC USB token, here are the steps you need to follow to register DSC on the income tax portal:
- Log in to the official income tax portal
- Visit the “My Profile” section of the dashboard
- Click on “Register DSC”
- Type the email address connected to the DSC token that you have plugged in. A checkbox would appear, with the following note written in it “I Have Downloaded and Installed Emsigner Utility”. Check the box.
- Click on the “Continue” button.
In this phase, one of the three scenarios may occur. One, in case your DSC is expired, a prompt would appear with the following message: “registered DSC has already expired”. You must sign up with an active DSC. Secondly, in case your DSC is valid, you need to click on “Update”. Third, if your email ID is not registered with your DSC, make sure that you enter the same email address that you have registered with the e-filing portal in order to register the DSC.)
- Check the “provider” and “certificate” dropdown boxes from the subsequent menus to make sure they are both valid, then type your password into the “provider password” box.
- When finished, press the “Sign” button. A transaction ID along with a success message will appear on your screen.
There we go, you have successfully registered DSC on the new income tax portal.
Final word
Remember, the objective of filing your IT returns is not just about notifying the Income Tax Department about your earnings. It can also be done correctly by best income tax software, timely filing of accurate returns enables you to take various other short-term and long-term monetary benefits.
Additionally, the tax you pay ends up contributing to the national infrastructure. So, in a way, taxpayers play a crucial role in the country’s prosperity. Now, what can be a nobler cause?
As you can see, the process of DSC registration on the new income tax portal is pretty straightforward and doesn’t take much time. We believe that this article will help you register DSC without causing headaches. If you have any questions, let us know in the comments section.
