2/27/2018 Income Tax Return of Deceased person | How to file ITR?

Home About ReLakhs Q & A Forum Contact Latest News Archive

Banking Financial Planning Insurance Loans & Credit Mutual Funds Real Estate Stocks ( Equity )

Tax Planning More…

You are here: Home / Tax Planning / Income Tax Return of Deceased person | How to le ITR for the deceased as a
Legal Heir?

Income Tax Return of Deceased person | How to le ITR

for the deceased as a Legal Heir?
Last updated: July 22, 2017 | by Sreekanth Reddy

In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes. Even after death of a

person, taxes (if any) are certain. The income earned by a person who has expired can still be

subject to taxes.

So, who is liable to le income tax return of a deceased Assessee? Who is liable to clear tax

dues? How to le ITR of an expired person? Let’s discuss….

Financial year (FY) is the year in which an individual would have earned the income. If you are

ling a return this year, the nancial year will be 2016-17. For example, if you have had an

income between 1st April 2016 and 31 March 2017, then 2016-17 will be referred to as FY.

Assessment Year (AY) is the year in which you le returns i.e., 2017-18.

What if an individual who is a tax assesee unfortunately expires during a nancial year? Is

he/she still liable to pay taxes after the death?

https://www.relakhs.com/income-tax-return-of-deceased-person/ 1/17
2/27/2018 Income Tax Return of Deceased person | How to file ITR?

Besides other legal formalities like transfer of assets, distribution of property, execution of

WILL (if any) etc., ling of ITR of a deceased person is also a very important formality and can

be a cumbersome task.

Who has to le Income Tax Return of Deceased person?

Income tax return of a deceased person can be led by his / her nominee or legal heir (legal

representative). To le the ITR on behalf of the deceased, the concerned individual has to get
himself / herself registered as a legal heir on e-Filing portal of IT department.

The income earned during a FY by a deceased person can be divided in to two parts ;

Discounts of 30% (EY) on multiple

routes on March 2. Celebrate Holi …
Ad30% off to China/North America/Mongolia/
Oceania. Air China’s India website only. Book …
AIR CHINA

Learn more

Income earned from April 1 till the date of death

For example : If a tax assessee (Mr X ) has died on 1st November, 2016 then the legal heir has to
le ITR on behalf of the deceased for the income earned from 1st April, 2016 to 1st Nov, 2017.

Though legal heir has to le ITR on behalf of the deceased, there is no liability to pay the taxes

of the deceased by the Legal Heir from his own pocket. Thus, the  liability is limited to the
extent of value of estate inherited by the legal heir from the deceased.

For example : If son (Mr Y) of Mr X inherits a property which is valued at say Rs 10 Lakh and if

the tax liability of Mr X is say Rs 12 Lakh, then in this case Mr Y cannot be held liable to pay
more than Rs.10 lakh as taxes.

Income earned thereafter till the end of the nancial year 

https://www.relakhs.com/income-tax-return-of-deceased-person/ 2/17
2/27/2018 Income Tax Return of Deceased person | How to file ITR?

For example : If a tax assessee (Mr X ) has died on 1st November, 2016 then the income accrued

on his name from 2nd Nov, 2016 till 31st March, 2017 has to be clubbed with the income of his
son (Mr Y). Son is liable to pay taxes from his own pocket. In case, there are multiple legal

heirs, taxes can be borne by all of them.

Below are the important points that need to be kept in mind ;

You as a legal heir or representative has to calculate the income of the deceased from the

start of the year till the date of death and thereby the tax payable on it in the same
manner as if the deceased is alive.

You may have to refer the deceased’s Bank Statements, investments, Form 26AS and
other relevant documents necessary for income tax calculation.

If there is any income which is earned on the inherited assets, after the date of
death then it is taxable in the hands of you (legal heir). Legal heir should include this

income inherited from the deceased in his own income while ling own ITR.

How to register as a Legal heir on e-Filing portal?

You can visit e-Filing portal and login with your credentials
Click on ‘Add / Register as Representative’ option Under ‘My Account’ menu tab.

Select request type as ‘New Request’, ‘Register Yourself on behalf of another person’ and

category as ‘Legal Heir’. Click on Submit button.

https://www.relakhs.com/income-tax-return-of-deceased-person/ 3/17
2/27/2018 Income Tax Return of Deceased person | How to file ITR?

You need to provide the details of deceased (like his/her PAN, Date of Death, name etc.,).

Attach a Zip File with the below scanned documents ;

Copy of the Death Certi cate

Copy of PAN card of the deceased

Copy of PAN card of the Legal Heir and

Legal Heir Certi cate issued by local authority (or) Surviving member certi cate (or)
Pension order issued by State/ Central govt (or) Registered WILL.

Kindly note that following documents will be accepted as Legal Heir certi cate;

https://www.relakhs.com/income-tax-return-of-deceased-person/ 4/17
2/27/2018 Income Tax Return of Deceased person | How to file ITR?

The legal heir certi cate issued by court of law

The legal heir certi cate issued by the Local revenue authorities.

The certi cate of surviving family members issued by the local revenue authorities

The registered will

The Family pension certi cate issued by the State/Central government.

Once you submit the request, it is sent to the e-Filing administrator for approval.

Based on the details and documents submitted by you, the admin may approve or reject

your request. e-Filing

The status of request can be tracked under ‘My Account -> Add / Register as

Representative -> View Request’.

Once your request is approved, as a representative you will have ‘Full Access’ except

‘Pro le Settings’ & ‘Add/Register as Representative’ functionalities, up to the date of

authorization.

How to le Income Tax Return for the deceased Tax Assessee?

Once your request for ‘Add Legal heir’ is approved, you can login to e-Filing portal with

your login credentials.

You can click on ‘Upload Return’ under ‘e-File’ tab.

Select the PAN of the deceased person and applicable ITR form to upload. (Read : ‘Which
ITR form to File?‘)

Select applicable Assessment Year and upload XML le.

https://www.relakhs.com/income-tax-return-of-deceased-person/ 5/17
2/27/2018 Income Tax Return of Deceased person | How to file ITR?

As a Legal Heir you can Digitally Sign the ITR of the deceased (or) can e-Verify the Return

as per your choice.

Important Points & FAQs :

Income Tax Notice & Scrutiny : After intimation about death of a person to an ITO, the
ITO concerned cannot issue notice in name of deceased, and if he does so and makes

assessment then it will be void ab initio. But they can issue tax due notice to legal heir.

Penalty proceedings (if any) can be initiated against the legal heir. But as discussed, the

tax liability would be limited to the extent of the assets inherited by legal heir(s) from the
deceased.

Can multiple legal heirs le ITR of a deceased person ?

If there is only one legal heir of the deceased then he/she will act as  legal

representative, but in case of more than one legal heir any one of them with the
consent of all, can act as legal representative for the purpose of income tax. As per

section 157 of Income Tax Act, 1961, legal representative will be entitled to collect

proportionate tax from other legal heirs as a part of their share.

If multiple legal heirs want to le ITR then as per provisions of Income Tax

Act  return is required to be led in capacity of AOP (Association Of Persons) or BOI

(Body of Individuals).
Can Joint bank accounts be continued? – If taxpayers have joint account and one of the

A/c holder dies then account can be continued as it was operated before by the survivor.

Also, inform the banks and other nancial institutions about the unfortunate incident and

get the records updated accordingly.

How many ITRs can be led? – I believe that only one ITR on behalf of the deceased can

be led by a legal heir (but, I could not nd any of cial source on this, you may let us

know if this is incorrect).

Can Legal heir receive Refund (if any)? –
Yes, If refund has been claimed or to be claimed then it can be issued to Legal

Representative. From FY 203-14 (AY 2014-15), refund will be credited directly into

the account and no cheque will be issued.

https://www.relakhs.com/income-tax-return-of-deceased-person/ 6/17
2/27/2018 Income Tax Return of Deceased person | How to file ITR?

If an assessee has expired after ling his return for a particular A.Y. and the refund

has been issued in his name, the legal heir can approach the PRO (Public Relations

 Of cer of IT dept) along with necessary documents like attested copies of death
certi cate, Last Will, address and identity proof of the legal heir, NOC of other

relatives in form of an af davit etc. and submit his application for further action.

How to get Legal heir certi cate ? – You can obtain a Legal Heir /

SuccessionCerti cate through your Taluk / Thasildhar or through the District Civil Court

of your area. You have to submit copy of Death certi cate, Identity Card and prescribed

application form. 

Kindly note that you can le ITR through of ine mode also. You (legal heir) has to meet the AO

(Assessing Of ce) and produce the required documents such as, self ID proof, relationship
proof with the deceased assessee (legal heir / succession certi cate), death certi cate of the

deceased assessee, as well as PAN copy of the deceased etc., After verifying, the documents

the AO will provide the approval for ling the tax returns for the deceased assessee to the

legal heir/representative.

Filing Income tax return of deceased person can be a challenging task. You need to have all the

required information about his/her income, access to bank statements, Tax credit statements

(TDS & Form 26AS), investments etc., to le ITR with correct income details. Also, a dispute
might arise if there is no unanimity on the division of the Estate (Assets) among the legal heirs

and this can pose a problem in doing the tax compliance on time, for and on behalf of the

deceased.

Hence, it is advisable to inform your loved ones, nominees or legal heirs about all the

investments that you make and about your tax liability status every nancial year. Hope you

nd this article useful. Kindly share your comments. Cheers!

(Image courtesy of Stuart Miles at FreeDigitalPhotos.net) (Reference : eFiling portal, ClearTax

& CharteredClub) (Post rst published on : 09-May-2017)

https://www.relakhs.com/income-tax-return-of-deceased-person/ 7/17
2/27/2018 Income Tax Return of Deceased person | How to file ITR?
Ads by Google

Income Tax Tax Calculator Individual Income Tax Form

Online Return Form A Registration Form

Related Posts

How to make your Income Tax eFiling Account more secured?

Income Tax Department’s New Website

Got a Gift? Find out, if it is Taxable or Tax-free?

What is Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement (DTAA)? | Is Income earned outside India Taxable?

Sreekanth Reddy
Sreekanth is the Man behind ReLakhs.com. He is an Independent Certi ed Financial Planner
(CFP), engaged in blogging & property consultancy for the last 7 years through his rm ReLakhs
Financial Services . He is not associated with any Financial product / service provider. The main
aim of his blog is to "help investors take informed nancial decisions.""Please note that the views given in this
Blog/Comments Section/Forum are clari cations meant for reference and guidance of the readers to explore
further on the topics/queries raised and take informed decisions. These should not be construed as investment
advice or legal opinion."

Connect With Me : Facebook Google+ Twitter LinkedIn

Comments

Rajendra says:
February 3, 2018 at 10:04 pm
Thank you Sreekanth Reddy, your article on ling deceased persons return was indeed very
useful. Can you also highlight that in one case date of death being 11-10-2016, we have
already led the return from 1st April 2016 to 11th Oct 2016 and signed by the legal heir
through e- ling and selected A.Y.2017-18. Now as we need to le the return by the Executor

https://www.relakhs.com/income-tax-return-of-deceased-person/ 8/17
2/27/2018 Income Tax Return of Deceased person | How to file ITR?

of Will post 11-10-2016 to 31st March 2017 how do we e- le as we have already led one
return for A.Y.2017-18. We are in a x as manually the IT return will not be accepted. (as
income is above 5 lakhs)

Sreekanth Reddy says:

February 4, 2018 at 12:30 pm
Dear Rajendra,
The legal heir ideally should have included/clubbed the taxable income in his ITR
for the relevant period (Oct- Apr) and led ITR.
Did legal heir le his returns for the AY 2017-18, without clubbing this income?
If so, suggest you to kindly consult a CA and take necessary action.

Jay says:
August 4, 2017 at 2:56 am
What to do when pension arrears from 2010 of the deceased is paid to the wife of the
deceased in 2016-17?

Sreekanth Reddy says:

August 4, 2017 at 1:03 pm
Dear Jay,
Suggest you to take advice from a CA.

Kaushal Singh says:

July 31, 2017 at 6:00 pm
Hi,
Thanks for the excellent article. My father was passed in jan 2017 and now his pension has
been transferred to my mother. We have received the form 16 for FY 2016-17 from SBI in
which tax has been deducted.

https://www.relakhs.com/income-tax-return-of-deceased-person/ 9/17
2/27/2018 Income Tax Return of Deceased person | How to file ITR?

Do we need to le income tax return on behalf of my father and how?

Thanks in advance.

Sreekanth Reddy says:

August 3, 2017 at 11:15 am
Dear Kaushal,
Yes family pension is a taxable income.
Kindly go through the procedure given in the above article, also below articles ;
Do I need to le ITR?
Which ITR form to le?

Sam says:
July 24, 2017 at 11:42 am
Sreekanth, Excellent! I found very relevant updates and the headings to the Articles posted
here are so well crafted that they connect with an average assesses like me very well.

On ling of returns of a deceased, I need to complement you from bring this out here.
Strangely, for the past 8 months, I was looking for inputs to le return of my father. Even
the CAs I knew could not help me. Ultimately, we went to the Jurisdiction Of cer to nd
out how we could le the return and verify at the end, because the part of segregation of
income from 01 Apr to the date of death was commonsense and logically must fall in hands
of the person inheriting, but the signing of form as “self” for someone deceased, was
incorrect.

The IT form, or the IT portal, strangely does not give this information, or at least it was not
easily accessible till date. When we were guided by the Jurisdiction Of cer, the inputs were
not very clear. However, I logged into my father’s account and decided to get to the “add
Representative” menu and found out something strange. It did not make much sense. Thats
when I decided to search the website again and found your article.

It is now clear that the Legal Heir needs to log into his/ her own account and on his/her
account add as Representative to the deceased person.

https://www.relakhs.com/income-tax-return-of-deceased-person/ 10/17
2/27/2018 Income Tax Return of Deceased person | How to file ITR?

As this was a case of Pension moving to Family Pension, it saved some sweat and blues for
me as I am able to place the Pension Order. But I found here that this could be a source of
harassment to some who may not have a Will/ Court Order etc. In any case, all other
certi cates would mean the same running around which the citizens of this country were
made to since Independence.

I only hope such inputs were simpli ed and better still brought about more visibly on the
IT Portal. The IT Portal has come a long way and needless to say that much of it is common
sense, but it sure has become robust.

Just one suggestion in this regard, that is the subject matter of ling returns of deceased
person after death of an assesse. If on the website, the words/word “ ling returns on
behalf of DECEASED person” could be one of the drop down menus as would be the case of
differently abled or aged persons, it will make matters simple.

Will that be possible for you to take it up with the IT Dept?

Further

M SIDDHARTHA BHATT says:

July 22, 2017 at 10:10 am
There is some change in the IT ling web site. The drop down menu for legal heir alone is
no longer there. Instead a new functionality under Add Register as Representative has been
introduced as per circular of 25/05/2017 available under News and Updates of IT web site.

Sreekanth Reddy says:

July 22, 2017 at 2:48 pm
Thank you dear SIDDHARTHA for sharing this information..will update the
screenshots in the article..

Sam says:
July 24, 2017 at 11:51 am
Siddhartha, you took the words out of my mouth.
My wife visited the Jurisdiction Of cer last week. She was told about the
“legal Heir” which I did recall having read way back in 2015, but could not nd
https://www.relakhs.com/income-tax-return-of-deceased-person/ 11/17
2/27/2018 Income Tax Return of Deceased person | How to file ITR?

it. The other menus under Rep or New… were not allowing the stated
directions given by the IT Of cer. In short, even the IT of cer perhaps is not
fully aware of the info you have added here.
I am sure Sreekanth will re ne this page with kinds of observations now
adding up. Not all of us are either CAs or Income Tax professionals. People
like you have made life more organised and simple.
Thanks

Sreekanth Reddy says:

July 25, 2017 at 10:43 am
Dear Sam.. Yes, I am very lucky to have blog readers like Siddhartha
and you, who keep me informed about the latest updates on related
topics, so that the blog posts are kept up-to-date with the latest
available information, useful for all of us.
Thank you!

UMESH MADHUKAR KEER says:

July 13, 2017 at 11:12 pm
Thanks for write up on the issue.
However demos you have shown in the illustration
is not same on the e- ling of IT return. UNDER head” my account”
not thr, service request but last item i.e. Add
representative only we get legal heir .
Also in details deceased ,date of death & not
birth date to be given. Also in documents
to be supported for the registration,af davit of legal heir
not included. In spite of your demo. I was not lucky to get
registered . Pl.

https://www.relakhs.com/income-tax-return-of-deceased-person/ 12/17
2/27/2018 Income Tax Return of Deceased person | How to file ITR?

Sreekanth Reddy says:

July 14, 2017 at 12:26 pm
Dear UMESH ..Yes, the IT dept do change the options / re-arrange the options
under different Menu Tabs.

M SIDDHARTHA BHATT says:

July 22, 2017 at 10:12 am
Please refer to circular of 25/05/2017 of IT Dept. on the It ling web site.

R K BHUWALKA says:
June 11, 2017 at 2:21 am
Hi Reddy

Few years back I have subscribed to your blog and since then I read all your articles
regularly and of most of the articles I take a print0uts and keep it a le.

While copying and pasting the article the page looks very clumsy since no proper space is
provided between the lines. Please provide proper spaces and give space for the images
also.

Trust in your future articles you will take necessary care?

Thanks

R K Bhuwalka

Sreekanth Reddy says:

June 11, 2017 at 12:23 pm
Dear Mr BHUWALKA,
Thank you for being a loyal reader of ReLakhs.
If you are taking printouts then you may use ‘print friendly feature’, which is
available in the left-had side sharing buttons options.
https://www.relakhs.com/income-tax-return-of-deceased-person/ 13/17
2/27/2018 Income Tax Return of Deceased person | How to file ITR?

Click on ‘+’ symbol, select Print / Print friendly options and you can take print outs
of the articles with property spaces and alignment.
Kindly try this out and do let me know if this is what you wanted …

Sam says:
July 24, 2017 at 11:56 am

I was also searching for a print option. Like Bhuwalka, I too copied and re-
formated and hoped that a button like the one “tax guru” provides, could be
on the page. But I read that you have just got started with the blog three
years ago and all alone, it may hurt your pocket to add features or even
maintain the website.
Much grateful to you Sreekant.

Rajesh Poddar says:

June 2, 2017 at 4:05 pm
Thank you, Mr. Reddy this is nice content. Really for the rst time in whole life I haven’t
read such type of content on Income Tax Return. Nice Article.

A Panchal says:
May 9, 2017 at 4:16 pm
This Article is very helpful to me, as one of my client just meet a death in Jan’2017.
I have no knowledge of ling return of diseased assesses.
Thank

https://www.relakhs.com/income-tax-return-of-deceased-person/ 14/17
2/27/2018 Income Tax Return of Deceased person | How to file ITR?

12,500+ Followers…Connect NOW!

e.g. Tax Planning SEARCH

Recently Updated Posts

Health Insurance Tax Bene ts (under

Section 80D) for FY 2018-19 / AY 2019-20

https://www.relakhs.com/income-tax-return-of-deceased-person/ 15/17
2/27/2018 Income Tax Return of Deceased person | How to file ITR?

How to submit EPF Account Nomination

details online? | New e-Nomination Facility
by EPFO

LIC New Plans list 2017-18 : Features, Review

& Snapshot of all the Plans

Income Tax Declaration & List of

Investment Proofs

Mutual Funds Vs ULIPs – Which is better? |

Post Budget (2018) LTCG Tax proposal on
Equity Mutual Funds & Shares

Got A Question? Just Ask..!

Got a Question? Just ask...! If you would like

to ask any queries on personal nance

topics, kindly visit our newly launched  

Continue Reading.....

17,000+ Subscribers. Sign Up NOW!

Name:*

Your Email-Id*

GET OUR NEWSLETTER

https://www.relakhs.com/income-tax-return-of-deceased-person/ 16/17
2/27/2018 Income Tax Return of Deceased person | How to file ITR?

Disclaimer | ReLakhs Financial Services | © Copyright 2018 | Hosting and Customization by Best Hosting
And Design.

https://www.relakhs.com/income-tax-return-of-deceased-person/ 17/17