Income Tax Submission via E-Filing

Income Tax Submission E-FilingIt’s that time of the year again when responsible Malaysians file their personal tax returns. The e-filing system is another method employed by the Income Tax Department to smoothen the hassles of filing tax returns. Prior to this, tax returns are usually done via hand delivery or by post or through tax agents. The e-filing system which was introduced about 2 years back met with a lot of teething problems. With negative feedback from users abound, I was quite skeptical about using it. Not until yesterday. Prior to this, tax payers would need to go to the Inland Revenue Board office to obtain their pin number to access the e-filing system but this year, the pin number is imprinted on the 2007 Tax Return Form.

The e-filing system, as I found out, was a breeze to use. It helped that I had broadband access at home and IRB’s server responded fast with minimal lag time. To use e-filing, you will need to have a computer running on at least Pentium III, Windows 2000 and above or Linux or Macintosh, IE 6.0, Firefox, Opera or Safari browser and Adobe Reader 7.0.5 (to read the manuals).

The first thing you need to do is to login to obtain your digital signing certificate. This is where you will need to key in your 16 digit pin number together with your identity, police, army or passport number. When successful, you will be shown your digital signing certificate which lasts for 3 years.

Next, login to your e-form after setting your chosen password. Most of your personal data eg. name, income tax number, employer’s tax number, marital status etc. are already pre-filled and you merely need to fill in or update some outstanding details where relevant. Then, proceed to fill in the form on your income and deductions / reliefs. The beauty of this form is that it auto-calculates the tax payable. Last night, I submitted three income tax returns for myself, my wife and my mother-in-law and I am pleased to report that the e-forms computed the tax payable correctly. It is really a breeze.

After all details have been keyed-in and saved, you will be asked to make your declaration that the information submitted is correct and to sign the e-form using your digital signing certificate. Just fill in your identity card number and password again and you will immediately receive an acknowledgement of receipt of your income tax submission in Adobe format. You can save that acknowledgement into your hard disk or print it out for your records. You can also save your e-form or print it out.

I would greatly encourage you to use e-filing if you have not. I must say that this time, I am truly impressed with the ease of filing. No more queues and hassles of finding a parking space. All done in a matter of minutes in the comfort of my home. Make sure you submit your personal income tax returns by 30th April, 2007.

April 24, 2008 | Filed Under Tax 

comments

3 Responses to “Income Tax Submission via E-Filing”

  1. terence on April 30th, 2008

    Yup. Very convenient doing it online. Today’s the last day.

  2. zewt on June 27th, 2008

    wow… free advice…

  3. Avatar on July 30th, 2008

    Yes, it’s convenient. For posterity’s sake, remember two things:

    1. Print out the tax computation. Soft copies have a tendency to go missing …

    2. Don’t wait til the last minute, like 12 midnight on 30 April to log-in…Traffic will be high and the Government’s server may not be able to cater for all that traiffic.

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