If you file income tax returns online, you may soon require a digital signature certificate (DSC). DSC is mandatory for service tax, value-added tax, corporate houses filing tax returns, as also for professionals and businessmen.
“But, we expect the tax authority to mandate DSC even for individuals e-filing returns from next year,” says the head of personal taxation at a leading tax consultancy.
A digitally-signed document is an evidence in itself. On clicking the link, you obtain details of the signatory. DSC helps authenticate electronic transactions like internet banking and e-filing of tax returns.
HOW TO APPLY
There are government-approved certifying authorities (CAs) like 3i Infotech’s eMudhra, (n)Code Solutions, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), MTNL and Sify that issue DSCs.
Class-I certificates are only a communication for emails. Class-II certificates are predominantly used for non-commercial purposes by professionals and companies. Class-III certificates are meant for commercial purposes like filing e-tenders for government projects and railways.
You can apply on CAs’ websites and pay through credit card or net banking. But copies of identity and residential proofs need to be submitted physically. The company agent collects those from you. “If you apply yourself, you will have to download the DSC on your own and this can be an issue if the internet connectivity is low — a problem encountered most of the times. We advise clients to touch base with a sales agents who can facilitate this smoothly,” said a sales executive at (n)Code Solutions.
When applied through a CA, the DSC gets saved on the system you use. Otherwise, you receive it through mail and can save it. Ravi Jagannathan, managing director at e-Mudhra, says you can have more than one DSC at a time, saved on different systems.
SECURITY
DSCs come with and without a security token, which can be bought from the CA or separately. This is a password-protected, physical security key that comes in a USB. Companies like SafeNet and Moser Baer, among others, provide these.
DSCs without a token can be saved on one system only. Those with a token, however, can be used only when the USB is connected, thus making it safer and usable on multiple systems. Rana Gupta, business head (India and Saarc) at Safe Net India, says most of those buying a DSC purchase it without a token. But then, he warns, it can be accessed by anyone using the system. “Buying the token separately can take additional time above the DSC issuance time. Also, individuals don't know which token to buy. One should buy federal information processing standards compliant cryptographic token,” adds Gupta.
Jagannathan explains there are some tokens that can be used with more than one DSC and others that can be used with only one. “We advise clients have one token per DSC,” he says.
COST, ISSUANCE TIME
Typically, DSCs cost between Rs 900 and Rs 1,000. The security token costs Rs 400-Rs 500. But the token once bought can be eternally used, while the DSC issued to individuals expires in a year. Those issued to corporates last two years.
The process of renewing a DSC is the same as applying for a new one. As for the price, till a year back, the costs varied between Rs 2,200 (without token) and Rs 3,200 (with token).
Once all documents are submitted, a DSC is issued in three to four working days. “In urgent cases, DSCs can be issued in 24-48 hours,” says the n(Code) executive.
