Income accruing before the death of a person: The ITR is required to be filed in the name of the deceased under their PAN by the legal representative.

Income accruing after the death: If the deceased had prepared the will, the executor would have been required to file the ITR before distribution. After that, the legal representatives must file the return in their personal capacity.

“In such a case, whatever income is accrued or received by the deceased person from the date of death till the last day of the financial year will be considered as income of the legal heir and disclosed in the income tax return,” Wadhwa adds.

Who can file ITR on behalf of deceased

• If the deceased had not prepared a will, the legal heir/s are required to file the ITR in their personal capacity. Thus, the interest income shall be added to the income of legal representatives or legal heir/s, as the case may be.

• If the deceased had not written their will and the partition has not yet taken place, the estate devolves immediately to the legal heir/s, according to the personal law that governs the deceased.

• It’s important to note that legal heir/s can file a return on behalf of the deceased assessee even if digital signature certificate (DSC) is mandatory. The legal heir/s must obtain the DSC in their capacity for filing such a return.

How to file this kind of ITR

To file a return on behalf of the deceased, a person has to first register as a legal heir on the Income Tax India filing website and enter the name, PAN and date of death of the deceased person.

Further, they are required to upload the scanned copy of the following documents in a zip file:

• A copy of the PAN card of the deceased.

• A copy of the death certificate.

• A copy of legal heir proof as per the norms.

The Income Tax Department will verify the request, and once the request is approved, the legal heir/s will be able to carry on all the e-filing-related services on behalf of the deceased.