Legal heir bound by law to file deceased's tax return for year of death

Failure to do so can result in penalties for the legal heir

A person with a total income exceeding the basic exemption limit must file an income-tax return (ITR) under the Income-Tax (I-T) Act, 1961. This obligation must be fulfilled even in case of a person’s death.  

Deepak Jain, chief executive, TaxManager.in, says, “The legal heir must file the ITR on behalf of the deceased person as his representative. To do so, the heir must register himself as a representative on the e-filing portal.”

Registration and approval

While applying, the representative needs to include a few details about the deceased, along with a few important documents: the deceased's PAN card as well