Fortax Itr Portal Operations

Income tax portal operations (incometax.gov.in)

Needs Python 3 and internet: runs scripts/fortax.py (the Fortax engine on ai.fortax.in; your file is processed and not stored).

Do the work, then stop at the last click

Everything before Submit and e-Verify is yours: registration screens, profile repairs, downloads, the pre-filled JSON, every field on the upload screen. Passwords, OTPs, captcha, DSC/EVC signing, payment and the final Submit belong to the CA or the taxpayer. Refusing a portal run because it ends in an OTP is a failure. Say what you will do and where you will stop, then start.

Open the portal in your browser tool (Claude in Chrome, a Playwright/browser MCP, or the Codex browser). If you have none, give the CA the exact click path and the values to type, screen by screen. The CA logs in; never type or store a password.

Step 0 — fix the year and the person

FY is April to March; AY = FY + 1. Fix both before opening a screen and carry them into every header and file name. Portal screens ask for AY, not FY, and the wrong pick files against the wrong year with no warning. Confirm PAN, date of birth or incorporation, and who is filing — the taxpayer, or the CA as authorised representative / representative assessee. That decides which login is used.

Step 1 — registering a new taxpayer

Take the Register path on the e-filing site and fill from the documents in the client folder.

Name and DOB must match the PAN database character for character. That mismatch is the commonest registration failure — check it against the PAN card before typing, and flag it rather than "correct" it. Then stop: the two OTPs and the password are the CA's. Say which OTPs are coming and to where.

Step 2 — representative assessee

For a taxpayer who cannot act — deceased, minor, of unsound mind, outside India. The representative raises the request under their own login, naming the taxpayer, with the legal heir or equivalent certificate, the death certificate where relevant, and both PANs. Prepare it, upload the annexures, stop at submission. Approval is the department's and takes time — look the turnaround up, never promise one, and raise the request first, because nothing can be filed for that taxpayer until it is approved.

Step 3 — profile items that block a filing (do these before any return work)

• Bank account validation. At least one validated account. Validation fails on a name, PAN or IFSC mismatch with the bank's record. Read the status column and report exactly what it says — Validated, in progress, or Failed with its reason.
• Refund nomination. A validated account is not automatically the refund account; confirm the nomination is on for the one the CA intends.
• Contact validation. Mobile and email verified in My Profile — an unverified contact breaks Aadhaar OTP.
• Aadhaar–PAN linkage affects the return, the refund and TDS credit. Look the fee and consequence up (python3 scripts/fortax.py kb "PAN Aadhaar link fee inoperative PAN" --topics itr); never state them from memory.
• DSC and principal contact / key person registration for a company, firm or LLP.

Write findings to ITR_portal_readiness_<PAN>_AY<year>.md in <Client>/<FY>/ITR/, one row per item with status and a fix owner.

Step 4 — the downloads

Work one tab per client per portal, and re-read the page before every click, because element references change. Files are password protected in the format the portal states (commonly PAN in lower case plus DOB) — note the format, never a password value. Save into <Client>/<FY>/ITR/ unrenamed and announce every path. A pre-filled figure is not a sourced one; it reconciles against the documents like anything else (the fortax-itr skill, Step 2).

Step 5 — uploading the return

1. Confirm the return data — built with the fortax-itr skill, not here — is for the same AY and the same form as the computation.
2. e-File -> Income Tax Returns -> File Income Tax Return -> AY -> Online, or offline JSON upload.
3. Upload and let the portal validate. Fix nothing on the portal ad hoc: each validation defect goes back to the computation, is corrected there, and the JSON is regenerated. (Known portal quirks and the validation-defect catalogue: fortax-itr references/portal-workflow.md.)
4. Read the preview and compare it against the working paper line by line. Report any difference; never adjust the portal to match the paper, or the paper to match the portal.
5. Save a screenshot or PDF of the preview as evidence, then stop at Proceed to Verification.

Step 6 — the e-verification routes

All four end in an act that is not yours; say which applies and what will appear on screen. DSC is mandatory rather than optional for some categories (for example companies and tax-audit cases) — verify which for this assessee and AY. A return not verified within the window is treated as never filed. Never state that window from memory; read it off the confirmation screen or python3 scripts/fortax.py kb "e-verification time limit ITR" --topics itr.

Output and handover

In <Client>/<FY>/ITR/, dated: the readiness note, a download manifest (each path and date), the preview-versus-working-paper comparison, and the acknowledgement number once it exists — never a submitted return. Hand over with the exact next click, the verification route that applies, and:

• Check before filing: AY on screen matches the computation; the form matches; preview totals match the working paper; amount payable reads zero with the self-assessment challan reflected; the refund account is validated and nominated; every AIS entry is in the return or explained.
• A Rules used block for every date, window, fee or limit relied on, with source URL and date checked (from kb or the portal), or marked "confirm on the portal".