Why you have to register before you can file
When someone passes away, their income up to the date of death still has to be accounted for — a final return for the year, and any earlier year left open. But the deceased can obviously no longer file or sign, so the law lets a legal representative do it for them.
The income-tax portal won't simply accept a return filed in a dead person's name from your account. It first needs to recognise, on record, that you are entitled to act for them. That recognition is the legal-heir (legal representative) registration: you request it from your own portal login, link yourself to the deceased's PAN, and once the request is approved you can file and transact on their behalf.
So the order is fixed — register as legal heir first, then file. Trying to file before the registration is approved is the usual reason an NRI gets stuck at this step.
The documents you'll need
The registration turns on proving three things: that the person has died, that you are entitled to represent them, and who both of you are. From abroad, gathering these is most of the work.
| What it proves | Typical document |
|---|---|
| The death | Death certificate of the parent |
| Your right to represent | Legal-heir or succession proof |
| Identity of both parties | PAN of the deceased and of you, the heir |
The death certificate is the anchor document. For proof that you are a legal heir, what's accepted can vary: a legal heir certificate or surviving-member certificate, a registered will, a family pension order, or a succession / similar certificate, depending on what your family already holds and what the state issues. The PAN of the deceased and your own PAN tie the two of you together on the portal. Where the original heir proof is still being arranged, there is sometimes an option to proceed on an undertaking and complete it later — but the cleaner the documentation, the smoother the approval. The broader identity and PAN housekeeping around all this is also covered on the existing /pan-services page.
The registration process, step by step
The process runs through your own income-tax account, not the deceased's.
You log in to the portal with your own credentials and raise a request to register as a legal heir / representative assessee, identifying the deceased by their PAN and uploading the death certificate, the legal-heir proof and the PAN details. The request goes to the department for approval rather than being granted instantly, so there's a review window. Once it's approved, the deceased's PAN appears under your access, and from there you can file the final return for the year of death, respond to any notice, and claim a refund into the estate.
Because portal screens and field names change from time to time, the steps are described here in general terms rather than as exact button clicks. The substance doesn't change: prove the death, prove your standing, link the PANs, wait for approval, then act. Where a refund is involved, it is paid into the estate / the heirs rather than to the deceased, so the bank-account details given at filing reflect that.
Your liability is limited to what you inherit
The worry most heirs carry — that taking this on means shouldering a parent's tax debts personally — is largely misplaced, and the law is clear about it.
As the legal representative you step into the deceased's shoes for the purpose of their tax (Section 159), so the final return is filed and any tax for the year of death is settled. But your liability is capped: it extends only to the value of the estate that comes to you. You are not personally on the hook for the deceased's tax beyond the assets you actually inherit — if the tax due exceeds the estate, your own money is not at risk for the shortfall.
That is the reassuring frame for the whole exercise. Registering as legal heir is a representative duty, bounded by what you receive, not an open-ended assumption of someone else's liabilities. It lets the estate be wound up cleanly — final return filed, refund collected, matters closed — without exposing you beyond the inheritance itself.
A worked example: Arjun files for his late father
Arjun lives in the United States. His father, who lived in Hyderabad, passed away during the financial year, leaving a final return to file — there was pension income and some NRO and FD interest up to the date of death, with TDS deducted that points to a refund.
Arjun first registers as his father's legal heir on the portal from his own login: he uploads the death certificate, a legal-heir certificate his family obtained, and links his father's PAN to his own. After the department approves the request, his father's PAN shows up under his access.
He then files his father's final return for the year — pension and interest income up to the date of death, with the deducted TDS set against the small liability, leaving a refund that is paid into the estate. Because the estate Arjun inherits comfortably exceeds any tax due, the question of personal exposure never arises; but even if the tax had outrun the estate, his liability (Section 159) would have stopped at what he received. The affairs are closed out cleanly, filed from abroad, without him taking on more than he inherited.