Filing an Income Tax Return for a Deceased Person 2026: The Legal Heir Registration Process, Step by Step

By Nitish Bharadwaj · Published Sep 21, 2026 · 6 min

When a taxpayer dies mid-year, income up to the date of death is still taxable and must be filed in their name — but only after a legal heir registers as representative on the e-filing portal, which takes about a week to approve. The portal accepts a death certificate, the deceased's PAN, and any recognised proof of legal heirship, from a court certificate to a notarised affidavit. Once approved, the heir files using the deceased's PAN, and any tax the estate can't cover is capped under Section 159 — never personally liable beyond the inheritance.

A person's tax obligation doesn't end at death — it just changes hands. The income tax department still expects a return covering everything the deceased earned up to the date of death, but the PAN and the portal login belong to someone who can no longer file it. That job falls to a legal heir, through a portal-registration process most families only ever go through once, usually while already dealing with everything else that comes with a death in the family.

Two Separate Tax Periods, One Deceased Person

Income the deceased earned from the start of the financial year up to the date of death is taxed in their own hands and must be filed under their PAN — this is the return a legal heir files on their behalf. Any income the estate or inherited assets generate after the date of death (interest on inherited FDs, rent from an inherited property, dividends on inherited shares) is a separate matter, taxable in the hands of whoever now legally holds that asset, whether that's the legal heir directly or the estate as a whole while it's still being administered. Treating these as one continuous return under the deceased's PAN is the most common mistake families make.

Step 1 — Register as Legal Heir on the e-Filing Portal

1. Log in to the income tax e-filing portal using your own PAN and credentials — not the deceased's
2. Go to the "Authorised Partners" menu and select "Register as Representative Assessee"
3. Choose the category "Deceased (Legal Heir)" and enter the deceased person's PAN and date of death
4. Upload the required documents (below) and verify the request using OTP
5. Submit and wait — the department typically processes the request within about 7 working days
6. You'll be notified by email and SMS once approved, after which the deceased's PAN becomes accessible in your own login under a representative capacity

Documents the Portal Will Ask For

• Copy of the death certificate
• PAN card copy of the deceased
• PAN card copy of the legal heir making the request
• Proof of legal heirship — any one of: a legal heir certificate issued by a court or local revenue authority, a surviving family member certificate, a family pension certificate from a State or Central government department, or (where none of these are available) a notarised affidavit along with two witnesses
• Bank account details of the legal heir, for any refund the deceased's return may generate

Filing the Actual Return, Once Approved

Once the registration is approved, the legal heir files the return using the deceased's PAN, selecting the representative-assessee option so the return is clearly filed in that capacity rather than appearing as a self-filed return. The ITR form to use depends on the deceased's income sources for the year exactly as it would for any other taxpayer — salary and one house property still fits ITR-1, capital gains or business income pushes it to ITR-2 or ITR-3. The due date is the same as the regular ITR deadline for that assessment year; death doesn't grant an automatic extension, though a jurisdictional assessing officer can condone a delay on a case-by-case basis if the circumstances warrant it. Any TDS already deducted against the deceased's PAN during the year — from salary, FD interest, or elsewhere — still needs to be reconciled and claimed exactly as our Form 26AS vs AIS reconciliation guide describes for a normal return.

What the Legal Heir Is — and Isn't — Liable For

Section 159 of the Income Tax Act makes the legal representative responsible for settling the deceased's tax dues, but caps that liability at the value of the estate actually inherited. If the tax owed exceeds what the estate is worth, the department cannot pursue the heir's own personal assets, salary, or property to make up the shortfall — the liability stops at the inheritance, not the individual.

Refunds

If the deceased's return shows a refund, it's credited to the legal heir's own bank account once that account is validated on the portal — not to the deceased's now-frozen account. For larger refund amounts, the assessing officer may additionally ask for an indemnity bond from the legal heir before releasing the payment, since the refund is being paid to someone other than the original assessee. This is handled case by case and isn't required for every filing.

Before You Start

• Confirm which financial year(s) need a return filed — a death mid-year still requires that year's return, in addition to any earlier pending returns
• Gather the death certificate and legal heirship proof before starting the portal registration — the request stalls without them
• Decide as a family which single heir will register and file, to avoid duplicate or conflicting registration requests
• Separate income earned by the deceased before death from income the inherited assets have generated since — they don't belong on the same return
• Reconcile TDS under the deceased's PAN against Form 26AS/AIS before filing, the same way you would for any other return