I-T dept urges taxpayers to re-register digital signature certificate on new portal
To register DSC on the new website, one must have a valid user ID and password from the old portal
On June 7, the Income Tax department launched a new e-filing portal to make the process of online filing of returns and tax payment much easier. Following this, the I-T department asked taxpayers to re-register their unique digital signature certificate (DSC) on the new website.
Besides re-registering their DSC, taxpayers were also reminded to update personal mobile number and email ID under ‘primary contact’, act on ‘pending action’, if any, and respond to ‘outstanding demand’.
Why must you re-register your DSC?
The electronic form of your signature popularly known as DSC is crucial to sign all electronic documents such as e-forms, e-tenders, and e-applications. Even for taxation purposes, it is mandatory to e-file ITR using your DSC in certain cases. It provides ‘authentication’ and ‘non-repudiation’ of digital documents thus enabling end-to-end security as well as privacy.
Since it holds great value, only a licensed certifying authority can issue a DSC as per Section 24 of the Indian Information Technology Act, 2000.
Due to some security and technical reasons, your DSC registration from the previous portal cannot be transferred to the new website. Hence, re-registration is required to continue the services of the I-T portal.
How to re-register DSC?
To register DSC on the new website, one must have a valid user ID and password from the old portal. With that, log in to the new e-filing website.
Select ‘My Profile’ from the dashboard. Now, from the left corner of the screen, tap on ‘Register DSC’.
Enter the linked mail ID and select “I have downloaded and installed emsigner utility” and then click on ‘Continue’.
Finally, select the Provider and Certificate from the drop-down list. Enter Provider Password and click on ‘Sign’.
After successful registration, a message indicating the same will be displayed on the screen with the option to go to the Dashboard.
Taxpayers can also view, edit and update their personal details under ‘My Profile’ option. It will also display a free ITR preparation software with interactive questions to help taxpayers file ITRs 1, 4 (online and offline).
There are almost 8.46 crore individual registered users of the I-T e-filing portal.