If your only income is salary, one house property and interest, ITR-1 (Sahaj) is the form for you and you can file it in about 25 minutes.
What you need in hand Form 16 from your employer, Form 26AS / AIS from the portal, bank interest certificates, and rent receipts if claiming HRA that wasn't already accounted for.
Filing steps Log in to incometax.gov.in with your PAN. Choose "File Income Tax Return" → assessment year → ITR-1. Most fields are pre-filled from your PAN, AIS and Form 16 — verify each one.
Common mistakes Forgetting interest income from savings and FDs. The bank has reported it via AIS; the department already knows. Add it, then claim the ₹10,000 deduction under 80TTA.
After filing E-verify within 30 days using Aadhaar OTP, net banking or a demat account. Un-verified returns are treated as not filed.
This is general information, not tax advice. When in doubt, hire a CA.