Digital Signature Certificate (DSC) is mandatory for all assessee who are liable for audit u/s 44 AB of the Income Tax and all the Corporate assessee. Further Professionals like chartered Accountants who have to file audit reports & Certification on the Portal are required to obtain a Digital Signature Certificate. In case of other assessee’s DSC is not mandatory.
The Person who verifies and Signs the Return has to obtain the DSC. For Instance the Following Person are required to obtain.
DSC is only issued to Real Individual Person. They cannot be issued to artificial persons like company, HUF, Partnership Firms. So the Directors, Partners, Karta have to obtain DSC in their individual Names.
DSC should be PAN Encrypted of Class 2 or Class 3, Issued by Valid Certifying Authorities (CA) like SafeScrypt, (n) Code, TCS, E Mudhra under the CCA (Controller of Certifying Authority). For a Complete List of all CA, Please visit Here
In PAN encrypted DSC, the PAN Number of the person obtaining the DSC is encrypted which is matched with the credentials while registration of DSC on the Income Tax portal. It is necessary that the person submits his PAN Card photocopy while procuring the Digital Signature Certificate.
The Person who verifies and Signs the return has to get his PAN encrypted in the DSC. In no Case company’s, Partnership’s, HUF’s PAN number is encrypted in the DSC. Suppose Mr. A want to file return of the Company XYZ Ltd in which he is a director. Now Mr. A has to obtain a DSC in his Name which shall be PAN encrypted. This means Mr.A should submit his PAN Card for Obtaining DSC.
No, you can use the same DSC for filing the returns of the Partnership Firm, Company. Suppose Mr. A is Partner in ABC Associates, Director in XYZ Ltd, Karta in ABC HUF and he also wants to file his own Individual Return. In this Case Mr. A is only required to take DSC in his Individual name and he can file the return of all entity with the same DSC.
DSC used on the Income Tax Portal should be in .pfx or .p12 file format. DSC in USB tokens is also equally valid.
You need to Create you account with the Income Tax Portal (https://incometaxindiaefiling.gov.in/). For registration please refer here . Also Refer the FAQ on the Same. Once you are successfully registered you have to register your DSC with the Portal. You cannot Sign and Submit the Returns unless you have registered you DSC.
The assessee has can register his DSC at the time of Registration or Post Login into his Portal. Profile Settings → Register Digital Signature Certificate. Once DSC is registered, taxpayer has to use the same DSC while uploading the Income Tax Return.
First Verify that you have put the PAN Number of the Person who is signing the Return and it is entered correctly. If the same is ensured, then you may have to check the DSC with the DSC provider and verify the PAN. If the PAN in the DSC is incorrect, you may have to get the same Revoked and obtain a Fresh DSC.
DSC is valid for the Period of 1 or 2 Year as the case may be at the time of obtaining the DSC. You cannot use the DSC after its validity period. You have to get your DSC renewed after the expiry. In this case you will again get a new .pfx or .p12 file containing you DSC. You have to use the New File for filing the Return. The old file is now redundant and is of no use.
Please use Internet Explorer (6 or above) preferably for Filing the Income Tax Return. Perform the following Steps Tools →Internet Option → Security → reset the setting to medium high, close and Tools → Internet Options → Security → Sites → add https://*.incometaxindiaefiling.gov.in to TRUSTED SITES and reopen the Internet Explorer. OR Create a folder called 'fake path' in your C drive and store the XML in the folder. On BROWSE, select this file and upload.
This may be due to reason like you DSC is revoked or it is not of the Required Class (Class 2 or Class 3).
Please refer the Procedure Here.
MCA Prescribes Class -2 DSC for Filing. However PAN encrypted DSC is not mandatory for MCA filings. You can use the same DSC for Income Tax Filings only if it is PAN encrypted.