You can take various routes to file your income tax return (ITR). These include filing your ITR on your own via the income tax department’s e-filing website, using the services of a chartered accountant or using an online third-party website like Clear (erstwhile ClearTax), Tax2Win, TaxBuddy, Quicko, etc.
Filing your ITR using the income tax department’s portal is free of cost, whereas you will be charged for approaching a CA or using an online income tax filing website.
Let us look at the charges for filing income tax returns on various popular portals like Clear, TaxBuddy, Tax2Win, Taxspanner, myITReturn and Quicko.
ITR filing charges without any assistance
Source: data is taken from the respective websites on July 19, 2023
Note: 1. Some columns were left as ‘not applicable’ since the respective website does not offer that specific feature as a standalone purchase, rather it is bundled with other features. Quicko and TaxBuddy do not offer this service.
Note: 1. Some columns were left as ‘not applicable’ since the respective website does not offer that specific feature as a standalone purchase, rather it is bundled with other features. Quicko and TaxBuddy do not offer this service.
Earlier most of these websites were offering ITR-1 and ITR-4 filing without an expert’s assistance for free. In recent years, they have started charging a fee for filing ITR via their website, assistance or not. However, one must check the charges levied by these third party websites to file their ITR.
For instance, as per myITreturn website, there is a free filing option but only for certain specified persons. “We provide FREE filing to unemployed, widows with family pension, student and retired Individuals,” read the website of myITreturn.
ITR filing charges with computerised assistance
Source: Respective website data as of July 19, 2023
Notes: 1. Some columns were left not applicable, because the respective website does not offer that specific feature as a separate standalone package.
2. All expert assisted plans are provided with help from an computer algorithm designed by an CA/ tax expert. For an dedicated CA’s assistance the charges are extra.
Notes: 1. Some columns were left not applicable, because the respective website does not offer that specific feature as a separate standalone package.
2. All expert assisted plans are provided with help from an computer algorithm designed by an CA/ tax expert. For an dedicated CA’s assistance the charges are extra.
3. All the assisted plans are being run with help of computer algorithms based on the data fed by an CA/ tax expert unless otherwise mentioned.
*TaxSpanner plan offers assistance of a CA instead of a computerised expert.
*TaxSpanner plan offers assistance of a CA instead of a computerised expert.
ITR filing charges with CA and other services
Note: *Here Taxspanner does not include capital gains, carry forward of losses or relief under section 89. For these services additional charge of Rs 1000 each is applicable. TaxBuddy, Quicko, myITreturn and Tax2Win does not offer this service.
Similarly, Tax2Win has a feature where taxpayers can file their income tax returns for free (for users with income under Rs 1 lakh). For all others, there are charges which are mentioned in the table above.
Although Clear has never offered all of their ITR filing plans for free, rather only the entry level or simple ITR filing service was kept free. From last year, Clear started charging for this simple ITR filing service too, which was free of cost earlier. It now costs Rs 299 (excluding GST) after a discount of Rs 151.
If you wanted an expert assisted ITR filing service from Clear, then it always was chargeable.
Since its inception in 2011, they have been offering without expert assistance ITR filing service for free. “In order to continue supporting our users with this amazing product, starting May 2022, we are charging our users a nominal fee that would help us sustainably process data of millions of Indians, all while ensuring 0% downtime,” read a note on Clear’s website.
Check the plan you are buying
One needs to check the services offered by the third party websites before selecting a plan. For instance, if you have income only from virtual digital assets (VDA) such as cryptocurrency, bitcoins etc, then Clear starts charging from Rs 1949 and it can go to Rs 3,999 (excluding GST). On the other hand, Taxbuddy charges Rs 5,999 (with computerised assistance) excluding GST.However, these charges will be applicable irrespective of an individual having other sources of income or not. Thus, even if you do not have salary income, interest income or have one source of income i.e., income from VDA only, then also you may have to pay hefty charges.
Original Published by:
Services offered by these third party websites
Third party websites offer certain benefits which makes ITR filing easier vis-a-vis filing ITR on the income tax portal. However, one needs to do a cost-benefit analysis before opting for such services.Original Published by:
