As per the income-tax rules of India, a deceased person’s income-tax returns must be filed for the year in which the person died. The income tax return of a deceased person should be filed by the legal heir.

To file the ITR on behalf of the deceased the legal heir has to get registered as a legal heir on the e-Filing portal of the IT department.

The legal heir has to file ITR on behalf of the deceased and the liability is limited to the extent of the value of estate inherited by the legal heir from the deceased.

The legal heir or representative has to calculate the income of the deceased from the start of the year till the date of death and thereby the tax payable on it in the same manner as if the deceased is alive.

The legal heir should include this income inherited from the deceased in his own income while filing his own ITR.

Following documents will be accepted as Legal Heir certificate-

1. The legal heir certificate issued by a court of law
2. The legal heir certificate issued by the Local revenue authorities.
3. The certificate of surviving family members issued by the local revenue authorities
4. The registered will
5. The Family pension certificate issued by the State/Central government.